The flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of double standards in the ongoing discourse surrounding the review of the Free Senior High School Policy.
Despite consistent calls for a review of the free SHS program introduced in 2017, the NPP government has steadfastly rejected such propositions.
According to the NPP government, the policy needs an improvement and not a review.
However, speaking at the launch of the Ghana National Association of Private Schools week, themed “2024 Elections: The Private Education Manifesto,” Mr Mahama criticised the NPP administration for its contradictory stance.
He highlighted the government’s pledge to review and rationalise the policy in a document submitted to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while presenting a conflicting narrative to the Ghanaian public.
Mr Mahama emphasised the disparity between the NPP’s promises to the IMF and their communication to Ghanaians, underscoring what he perceived as a lack of transparency and consistency in their approach.
“There’s hypocrisy in this thing about review. If you look at the IMF agreement that this government has signed with IMF, under point 47 page 76.
“This Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government signed an agreement with the IMF in January 2024. And they say that in the educational sector, we will review and rationalize the free SHS. These are their words, not my words.”
“And so when you hear all this politics about my understanding of the review means to abolish, in their own words they are using review. Sometimes you must watch our politics. I encourage all of you to get the Eduwatch report and read it, and it’s about, especially the free SHS.
“It says that between 2021 to date, over 196,000 children did not take up their place in the free SHS. Even though they were posted and qualified, they didn’t go. We need to find out why they didn’t go.
“The report says that the total amount of money the government has spent on free SHS comes to about ¢5.8 billion. The proportion of the parents is about 77% to the government’s share of about 23%. That is why we must do a review,” he said.
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