The
Deputy Minister in charge of Tertiary Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is
confident government will sustain its free Senior High School (SHS)
policy. Critics of government’s have cited how government is struggling to
manage the School Feeding Programme, the National Health Insurance Scheme
(NHIS) and other social interventions. But speaking on the Citi FM, Okudzeto Ablakwa said government
has over the years demonstrated that even though it faces challenges in
managing such programmes, the programmes are usually sustained. The free SHS
programme is expected to cost government about 42 million cedis just for the
first phase. But an Educationist, Anis Haffar has warned government to be
cautious in its attempt to introduce the policy. He questioned whether
government has adequate resources to fund the project. In a related
development, the Minister has said over 3,000
students are expected to benefit from government’s free SHS policy. The
free SHS policy was the main campaign message of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)
in the 2012 general elections; a policy which was criticized by the governing
National Democratic Congress (NDC). But President John Mahama in his 2014 State
of the Nation address announced that his administration was going to introduce
a free progressive SHS education. His announcement has received intense criticism
from the opposition
while some
teacher unions have
also expressed grave concerns that the policy may affect the quality of
education.
Source:Citifmonline.com
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