The President-Elect, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, has reassured Ghanaians that his government would not “scrap” the Free SHS policy, but rather a dedicated funding would be sourced to maintain it.
The President-Elect made this disclosure in an exclusive interview with VOA Africa’s Paul Ndiho, last Saturday, December 14, 2024.
The ex-President indicated that he is looking forward to strengthening the nation’s economy and education sectors.
He also added that he would create jobs and address corruption and illegal mining, popularly known as “galamsey”, during his second term in office.
The NPP propaganda-machinery, prior to the December 7 elections, had created the impression that the NDC would cancel the Free SHS policy implemented by the Nana Akufo-Addo-led NPP government since 2017, if they assume the Presidency.
But John Dramani Mahama debunked the claims, noting that “Free SHS has come to stay and it is not going anywhere because nobody is scrapping it”.
He added that the “policy” will be maintained by getting “dedicated funding”, so that it is better resourced than it is currently.
“But the thing about me coming to scrap Free SHS was just a political gimmick by the NPP… Free SHS has come to stay, and I am going to make it better and improve the quality of the food for the children”…. John Dramani Mahama explained.
According to the President-Elect, “there are a lot of waste in the system”, and that his government will help make the system efficient, so that “students, teachers and parents” will get the “best benefit out of the policy”.
He also pointed to the “negligence of basic level education” due to the focus on only secondary school level education, and disclosed that 1.3 million pupils do not have desks to sit on while some lie on the floor during lessons.
To address the aforementioned issues, the President-elect disclosed that a “National Education Forum” will be held to bring stakeholders together to assess the whole “education value-chain”, as well as take important decisions on how to reform the nation’s education system, to ensure that beneficiaries get “better and quality education”.
From Oswald Pius Freiku, Kumasi
