Free SHS 90 percent successful – Napo

The Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has said that Free Senior High School (SHS) policy is 90 percent successful.
According to him, the government has made an upfront payment of 20% of the school fees of the first year students.
This measure, he noted, was meant to silence critics of the implementation of the Free SHS policy, especially, those who doesn’t see anything good with the policy.
Over 400,000 first year students are expected to benefit from the free SHS policy this academic year.
But Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen Tuesday said not only has the President ensured part payment of the school fees of the beneficiary students, he had also ensured capitation grant that are in ‘chronic arrears’ are paid up to date
“The free SHS policy is 90 percent complete. Government has made payment of 20 percent school fees of the first years. In fact, critics of free SHS are only doing that to malign the Nana Addo government,” he said.
When the Free SHS policy was launched in September, equity, skills development, infrastructure development and quality were touted as the pillars of the policy, and Dr. Opoku-Prempeh assured that the full scope of the policy will eventually be realized.
But Dr. Opoku-Prempeh noted that there are emergency interventions that are ongoing in acquiring furniture, bunk beds among other things.
Every school, Dr. Opoku-Prempeh, maintained has made known its deficit gap to the government.
“When we talk about the Free SHS furniture challenge alone, it is about GHc 80 million that has been allocated.” He noted.