The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has assured Ghanaians that the government of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will maintain the pro-poor policy, Free Senior High School.
On the contrary, he has stated that voting for one-term president, John Dramani Mahama, will be a vote against the social intervention programme introduced by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government that has allowed over one million Ghanaians to attain secondary school education free of charge.
Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, who is also the Member of Parliament for Damongo constituency, was speaking in an interview with Tamale-based Diamond FM on Monday, September 2, 2024.
“Free Senior High School was started by President Akufo-Addo and I’m respectfully telling the people of Tamale, the people of the Northern Region, that if you vote for NDC, it will mean you are voting against Free Senior High School,” Jinapor stressed.
He continued that, “If you make the choice for Dr. Mahamuud Bawumia, it will mean Free Senior High School will be continued, it will be perfected, it will be enhanced, it will be improved, but if you make a choice for former president Mahama, it will mean just as they did with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) when President Kufour brought it.”
CREDIT
He debunked assertions that the erstwhile Mahama administration started the policy, stressing that President Akufo Addo must be credited for the successful implementation of the free SHS policy.
He recalled that John Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) fought against the introduction of the free SHS policy by sponsoring advertisements against it, as they never believed in the policy.
“These people have never ever believed in Free Senior High School. President Mahama has fought against it. They say they will review it and reviewing it essentially would mean cancelling it,” he cautioned.
BACKLASH
The flag bearer of the opposition NDC, John Dramani Mahama, came under huge criticism after he claimed that the NDC started the free SHS.
Meeting journalists in Accra, Mr. Mahama narrated how the NDC started the progressive free SHS by absorbing some fees and made the point that President Akufo-Addo only expanded it.
Since the said claims, many Ghanaians have disagreed with him, especially parents and guardians of students who benefitted from the policy from 2017 when it was launched.
CAMPAIGN
The debate about the free SHS has been rooted in the campaign, ahead of the December 7, 2024 general election.
Whereas the opposition says it will review the policy when voted into office, the ruling party does not trust those promises, stating that Dr. Bawumia should rather be voted for to ensure the continuity of the free SHS.
STATISTICS
The Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) has found out that since the inception of the free senior high school (Free SHS) policy in 2017, enrolment in secondary schools increased from 813,448 in the 2016/17 academic year to 1.3 million in the 2022/23 academic year.
The report by Eduwatch said in the first six years of the free SHS policy, an average of 422,940 students were enrolled yearly, compared to an average of 260,490 annual enrolments for the same period before the policy.
Regarding the government’s allocation and expenditure, Eduwatch stated that between the 2017/23 and 2023/24 academic years, a total of GH¢12.88 billion was allocated to the free SHS policy, averaging GH¢ 1.84 billion annually.
