President Akufo-Addo poses with some beneficiaries of Free SHS
The University of Cape Coast in the Central Region is set to honour President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his efforts in the education sector, particularly the introduction of the popular Free Senior High School (SHS) initiative.
A letter to the Minister of Education, signed on behalf of the Secretary to the President, Mercy Debrah-Karikari and Secretary to the Cabinet, with copies to the Vice President, Chief of Staff, the Director of State Protocol and Director of Communications, accepted the “Conferment of the Honorary Degree.”
“With reference to your correspondence No. DA 462/471/01 dated 30th April, 2021, bearing on the above subject matter, I write to inform you that the President of the Republic has accepted the decision by the Council of the University of Cape Coast to confer on him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership (Honoris Causa) at a Special Congregation to be held on Saturday, 29th May, 2021 at 10 am at the University of Cape Coast,” the letter stated.
The letter written on May 17, 2021, then requested for the programme outline of activities to enable the President to prepare adequately for the occasion.
President Akufo-Addo has become a champion of education for the youth since he assumed office in 2017.
After becoming leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2007, he continuously pushed that basic education should not terminate at primary but rather at secondary level.
He then promised to introduce Free SHS when given the nod to lead the country, and after two unsuccessful attempts (2008 and 2012) he won the 2016 Presidential Election and introduced his brainchild Free SHS policy, which has put over 1.2 million children in schools.
Data shows that before President Akufo-Addo and his NPP government introduced Free SHS in September 2017, there were about 400,000 children dropping out of school at the primary level due to poverty.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said last year that President Akufo-Addo’s greatest accomplishment is the successful implementation of the Free SHS, which he said has led to a 70 per cent increase in enrolment of secondary education.
The Free SHS has become an essential part of Ghana’s educational system, providing access, equity and equality education to Ghanaian children.
“If you look at what the nation needs, the nation needs human capital to develop and we were losing so many people. So many kids were dropping out of the system because their parents could not afford fees to take them to school and that was a price Ghana will be paying later on.
“So, we thought that this was a major issue facing the country and the President had that vision, which he articulated in the 2016 manifesto, having gone round the country,” the Vice President had said.