Expectedly, politicians who have longed for an opportunity to take a swipe at flagship government programmes latched on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) impressions about an aspect of the free Senior High School (SHS) novelty.
For a social intervention project which opposition elements rather did not come on it was Manna from heaven as they rendered assortment of interpretations to the project following the rather innocuous IMF observation about its targets.
Had we the opportunity we would have asked the IMF whether it is a useless venture which should be abandoned in the face of the target query? That scrapping did not show up in the conditionalities is ample evidence of their acceptance of its goodness.
Be it as it may, we are constrained to express disappointment in those who still harbour ill-feelings about the free SHS, the many dividends being realised notwithstanding. Hypocrisy is when cynics pretend not to acknowledge the goodness in a project even as they see this and are beneficiaries of it.
The political killjoys have loudly ignored the aspect of the IMF report on the free SHS policy which acknowledged the augmented enrolment situation in schools. To the observers of the conduct of this gang of political activists, the interpretation of the IMF report which they are gleefully giving assortment of negative interpretations, the effusions are unsurprising. It is their stock-in-trade, a smelly brand which continues to give politics a bad name in our part of the world.
We would continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the free SHS policy because it is allowing those who would have otherwise not gone beyond Junior High School do so.
Calling for its review as the cynics are doing now is nothing but the prosecution of a dirty agenda to contaminate the policy and give it a bad name preparatory to hanging it. That fortunately would not take place as the policy continues to register victory onto victory.
If only the review they are calling for includes the payment of fees for their children, the rich, in such facilities we would have been elated.
With no shortage of pro-opposition media elements to offer vents for their propaganda, the free SHS is still on their front burners as they concoct various theories about it to destroy it.
Their toxic stance on social intervention policies has included the cocoa road projects in the producing areas of the golden pods, a clear manifestation of their jaundiced position on such matters. Goodness shall always triumph over evil and nefariousness.
That the IMF has picked on a particular shortcoming in the free SHS policy does not make it a villainous intervention which should be thrown away.
We are grateful to the IMF who have appreciated the significance of the interventions initiated by government as part of the transformation of this country.
At the time of its initiation in 2017, the free SHS was intended for all who qualified to be in school at that level of the academic ladder.
Flagship programmes such as Planting for Food and Jobs, free SHS among others are synonymous with the government pillars upon which its manifestoes are hinged and shall be considered as such.
If only those talking about targeting could provide the good people of this country data on incomes to assist those in charge determine those who can and not, that could be helpful. Even collating election results is a task they are yet to convince the people of Ghana they have a grasp on.
Shutting up and putting up with the good policies ongoing would be a better option.