The students honouring Napo
The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has honoured the outgoing Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, for his contribution towards education in Ghana and particularly for leading the successful rollout of the Free SHS programme.
The delegation was led by the NUGS President, Isaac Hyde, and included representatives from NUGS’ constituent bodies such as University Students Association of Ghana (USAG), the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG), Ghana Union of Professional Students (GUPS) and the Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG).
The various constituent bodies also presented citations to the outgoing minister who had been nominated as Minister of Energy-designate.
Decorating Dr. Prempeh with a sash and presenting him with a citation, Mr. Hyde recounted Napo’s immense contribution to education during his tenure as Minister for Education.
He recounted in particular the securitization of GETFund revenues to fund infrastructure and Covid-19 support and interventions in education and the Free SHS programme which had provided immense opportunity to many children who would otherwise not be able to access SHS education.
It was for this reason that NUGS had decided to confer on him the status of “Dr. Free SHS”, in recognition of his role in the rollout of the programme
Dr. Prempeh expressed his deep appreciation for the kind gesture by NUGS and its constituent bodies, and emphasized that the government of President Akufo-Addo came into office in 2017 as evangelists to preach their manifesto.
Particularly on Free SHS, he stated that there were lots of doubts, but the government was prepared to “walk the talk” and remained focused.
He encouraged NUGS to foster its relationships among its constituent bodies and also with government, urging them to avoid partisanship when engaging on national issues.
By Melvin Tarlue