President Nana Addo has asked Ghanaians to disregard negative comments by some members of the opposition against the government’s Free Senior High School Policy (Free SHS).
According to him, his administration is committed to the success of the policy for the general good of the Ghanaian.
[contextly_sidebar id=”NjrEKKSMLGUvSGTpWOC0hEZ8HazxT8oq”] The President was speaking at a durbar of the chiefs and people of Mpasaaso, in the Ashanti Region.
President Akufo-Addo is currently in the Ashanti region for a five-day tour as part of his nationwide visit to the various regions to interact with the chiefs and people there.
“The numerous promises that I made to the good people of Ghana that I will fulfill if I were elected as the next president but a lot of are now saying there was no way I could fulfill them all they said that I was deceiving the people of Ghana and telling them lies”, he stated.
The government rolled out the Free SHS policy in September 2017 in fulfillment of its campaign promise in the build to the 2016 general election.
The policy has so far increased enrollment in SHSs by about 90,000 students.
But, less than a year after its implementation, a number of challenges such as the non-availability of space in SHSs has forced the government to adopt a new mode of operation for second-cycle institutions – the double track system to take effect in September 2018.
But, President Akufo-Addo said nothing would stop the government from going ahead of the policy.
“Have I not accomplished Free Senior High School? The free SHS policy helped 90,000 children in Ghana attended SHS for the first time increasing last year’s enrollment to 180,000.”
“I told you all that I will make sure every child in Ghana attains secondary education by whatever means possible that’s exactly what I am doing. I am going to make sure that it is a success and I urge you to disregard the negative views of the ‘Pharisees’ and solidly stand behind me”, Nana Addo added.
Free SHS will cover more beneficiaries in 2018 – Education Minister
Education Minister, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh has said enrollment under the Free Senior High School policy for September 2018 will cover more beneficiaries than in 2017.
He disclosed that there had been a 10% increase of prospective beneficiaries who have registered under the policy this year with placement expected to increase by 30% than last year.
“Ghanaians will be told very soon. It is going to be more exciting. The number of kids who have registered has increased by about 10% over last year. The number of kids that we are expected to place is going to be probably 30% than last year. So Ghanaians have voted positively for the Free SHS policy,” he revealed.
Gov’t not struggling to fund Free SHS – Oppong Nkrumah
Incoming Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has dismissed suggestions that government is in a fix as far as the funding and implementation of the free SHS policy is concerned.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said though the first year of the free SHS policy was initially fraught with some challenges, the government subsequently tackled them.
He insisted that the government was ready to deal with the increased numbers of students expected in the second year of the programme.
“It is incorrect to say the government is in a fix regarding the free SHS system. In the first year of the free SHS system, the initial challenge was that we could not find the money to fund it. Budgetary allocation of about 400 million cedis was made available. We funded it and about 90,000 students who did not have an opportunity to go to school did. In this second year, we are envisaging a larger number going into Senior High School.”
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By: Nii Larte Lartey/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
