President Nana Akufo-Addo (right) and Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has displayed the Free SHS novelty as the most outstanding social intervention for Ghana since the attainment of independence.
For him, it is an intervention which will continue to impact positively on the lives of all Ghanaians and the future generation, adding that the government of President Akufo-Addo credited for the novelty will not relent on its commitment to quality education for Ghanaian children.
Speaking over the weekend during the speech and prize-giving day of the Swedru Senior High School in the Central Region, the Vice-President emphasised that the surest way to develop a nation is to educate its people.
The government, he said, was determined to properly position Ghana to take advantage of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
He recalled how the NPP then in opposition promised to make secondary education free if elected in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections; a promise which he added had since been fulfilled with 1.2 million children benefitting from it.
“We are investing and building capacity for the future of this country. The future of this nation depends largely on the kind of education that is provided for its citizenry. It is against this background that the President’s focus is on provision of quality education for every Ghanaian child irrespective of their social or economic status in the society. Every Ghanaian child through quality education must be empowered to become economically independent,” he stressed.
Double Track
He used the occasion to explain the rationale behind the double track system which, according to him, is to address the dearth of school infrastructure.
The Vice-President assured Ghanaians that the system would be phased out when the dearth of school infrastructure is resolved.
“The fact is that without the double track system, thousands of students would not be able to access Free SHS. Those who are criticizing the double track system have not been able to offer an alternative. Abolishing the double track system means abolishing Free SHS as we know it,” he pointed out.
Dr. Bawumia stated that the Free SHS policy should never be put in the hands of those who did not believe in it and are not committed to it stressing “under Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP, the Free SHS is irreversible; it has come to stay!”