The Executive Director of the Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare has urged political parties from claiming ownership of educational initiatives and focus on how to collectively move the nation forward.
According to him, implementation of certain educational projects such as the Free SHS, GET Fund, among others are all initiatives mandated by the constitution for any Government in power to implement.
In an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, he said: “Free SHS must be seen as a constitutional obligation for the Government of Ghana. We must understand that the policy’s antecedent is grounded in the constitution. Governance is continuous”.
Instancing his point, he noted, “When President Kufuor was in power, the Ghana School Feeding Programme was started and that was the timeline for free compulsory education. The constitution stated that it should begin effectively in 2005. He was the President during that time. That does not mean, he is the inventor of Free SHS. In the same way, it was during the NDC’s tenure that the GET Fund was introduced. GET Fund is one of the largest initiatives in the education sector. The GET Fund is what is being used to build schools and we have used that to acquire loans for the infrastructure of schools”
He reiterated, “The projects are for Ghana. So that sense of entitlement and ownership in politics that the two parties are making over free SHS must stop and let’s move forward”.
Meanwhile, he has proposed that the next Government must “expand the free Senior High School program to incorporate a focus on technical education”.
The former President John Dramani Mahama has said that contrary to the opinions that he will scrap the Free SHS policy, he will strengthen the policy by backing it with solid infrastructure.
However, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has told Ghanaians to treat former President John Dramani Mahama’s pledge to expand the Free Senior High School (SHS) with doubt, wondering how he can promise to expand something he was against in the run-up to the 2016 elections.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
