FINANCE MINISTER, Ken Ofori-Atta, has indicated that contrary to claims by critics that the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government does not have what it takes to sustain the Free SHS policy, the initiative is actually going to be sustained.
Presenting the 2018 Mid-Year Budget Review on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, July 19, Mr. Ofori-Atta made it clear that plans have been put in place to ensure the continuation of the programme.
The Free SHS initiative is one of the flagship programmes of President Akufo-Addo’s administration.
The implementation of Free SHS has helped to save lots of money for parents and have also ensured access to higher education for children who previously were out of school due to ‘poverty.’
The President’s decision for implementing the policy is to recess the gap between the educated prime and the illiterate poor so as to enable the poor in society take chances and become people with substance.
The Finance Minister informed the public that after the Free SHS policy took off in September 2017, government continued with its implementation as it created opportunities for additional 90,000 students who would have otherwise dropped out of school.
Currently a total of 362,118 First Year Students from all senior high schools which is made up of 117,692 day and 244,426 boarding students have benefitted from the programme across the country.
The Ministry of Education is considering the adoption of a double-tracking system for students who will be admitted into SHS1 in September for the 2018/2019 academic year.
In order to address the fundamental problems reportedly confronting the smooth operations of the initiative the minister explained that government has allocated lots of logistics to the various schools. Besides, more teachers have been admitted in order to ensure that students do not only get free secondary tuition but also have quality education.
“To address the initial challenges identified with the implementation of the programme, 96,413 mono desks, 32,171 dining hall furniture, 3,033 tables and chairs for teachers, 12,953 bunk beds, 4,335 student mattresses, and 5,135 computer laboratory chairs were supplied to various SHS,” he added.
More allocations will be made in the future to ensure Free SHS is sustained and withstand challenges like increasing student population.
BY Jireh Magdalene Yayra