Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kintampo North Constituency, Joseph Kwame Kumah, has called for the immediate review of the free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
He proposed a stakeholder conference on education, especially free SHS for the country’s development.
“We gave President Akufo-Addo the chance to lead Ghana because he convinced us he could manage the economy. But if anyone becomes a leader, it doesn’t mean they should not listen to the views of others. The free SHS policy has come on board and has to be reviewed. But when you insist the policy is not wrong and will not change anything, then it is not correct. I always say the evaluation of free SHS is overdue and whenever I get the opportunity to be on any platform, I propose for a stakeholder conference on education,” he told Don Kwabena Prah on Happy98.9FM’s “Epa Hoa Daben” political talk show.
According to him, the President Akufo-Addo led government is channeling its efforts to the free SHS policy, collapsing the basic school system in the process. “We shouldn’t be running the free SHS policy on a partisan basis. The President is already under pressure with the free SHS policy and at the end of the day parents are paying more under the policy, and that is the reality on the ground.”
He called on government to be honest with parents and appealed to them to support the children. “We need to stop proclaiming the free SHS slogan and plead with parents to support their wards. Parents can come in and pay for uniforms and others, whiles government focuses on providing them with accommodation and feeding.”
President Akufo-Addo says he is open to a broader conversation on access to education, especially the Free Senior High School (FSHS) policy.
The conversation, according to him, must look at funding, availability of money, access and other ingredients that must work for the good of the Ghanaian.
“One of the things people have been calling for is the review of Free SHS, I think we should have a broader conversation about the incidence of education on our national development,” he said.
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