Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia with the clergy in Tamale
The Vice President and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has revealed that the NPP government has achieved gender parity with the introduction of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
“The number of girls who have entered Senior High School since the introduction of the Free Senior High School policy is more than the number of boys who have entered Senior High School,” he revealed.
Dr. Bawumia said the Free SHS policy by the NPP has helped bridge the gap between the rich and poor in Ghana.
According to him, the number of students who have been enrolled since the introduction of the Free SHS policy has increased from 800,000 to 1.4 million.
“Before Free Senior High School, for every 100 boys we had 68 girls, but today for every 100 boys we have 106 girls, so the girls have now exceeded the boys in Senior High School, and that is good for the country because they say if you educate a woman you educate a whole nation,” he stated.
He made this known during an interaction with the clergy in Tamale as part of his five-day campaign tour of the five regions of the north.
Dr. Bawumia disclosed that the five regions of the north have the highest enrolment in the Free SHS policy.
“The highest increase in enrolment is from the five regions of the north, and that is what you would want to see because the northern regions are the poorest regions of the country, and if you want to bridge the gap, then we must see enrolment much higher in these regions, and we are seeing much better performance in the WASSCE examination from the best six subjects from 45% to 64%,” the Vice President disclosed.
He noted that despite the challenges in the implementation of the Free SHS policy, it has been a successful policy.
“Notwithstanding the challenges we have with the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy, the overall record is better than what it was before,” he affirmed.
The Vice President urged the clergy to preach religious tolerance to their followers to ensure that Ghana continues to be safe.
“I do not think that being a true Muslim or Christian means you cannot go close to each other, because I think that is not how our religion teaches us. There are many people who are uncomfortable with us getting close and want to keep us apart, and that is where extremist benefit. We are a peaceful country because we are close to each other, and so let’s us keep it that way,” he added.
BY Eric Kombat, Tamale