A Progressive People’s Party (PPP)
Communicator, Charles Owusu has said that it would be an act of wizardly for
anyone to speak against the implementation of the free Senior High School (SHS)
programme announced by President Nana Akufo-Addo.The President speaking
at the 60th Anniversary celebration of Okuapeman Secondary School over the
weekend announced the government’s intention to roll out the free SHS programme
by the beginning of next academic year.
“The government of Ghana will
fund the cost of public senior high schools for all those who qualify for entry
from the 2017/2018 academic year onwards. Let me take this opportunity to spell
out clearly what we intend to do so no one in Ghana is left in any
doubt.
“By free SHS we mean that in addition to tuition which is already
free, there will be no admission fee, no library fee, no science centre fee, no
computer lab fee, no examination fee, and no utility fee; there will be free
text books, free boarding and free meals, and day students will get a meal at
school for free.” President Akufo-Addo said.
The President said: “Free
SHS will also cover agricultural, vocational and technical institutions at the
high school level. I also want to state clearly again that we have a
well-thought out plan that involves the building of new public senior high
schools and cluster public senior high schools”.
This announcement has
led to debates on the feasibility of the programme with critics asking the
government to come out with the full cost of the programme. Others have also
indicated that the government ought to wait to build more infrastructure before
implementing the programme.
Commenting on the policy on Peace FM’s
Kokrokoo Programme Tuesday, Charles Owusu opined that the policy is feasible and
hence argued that it would only be ‘witches and wizards’ who would speak against
its implementation..
“It is only witches and wizards who would want to
speak against such a feasible project, it is about priorities…,” he
argued.
He said he could not come to terms with the fact that same people
who paid huge judjement debts would think a policy such as free SHS is
feasible.
“We take money and organize Ghana@50 etc, SADA, SUBAH etc, it’s
all about the will to do whatever we want and we in the PPP believe in free
Education from the lower level to SHS…,” he added.
He however called on
the Minister of Education to come clean and list the full details of the
programme.
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