Former Deputy Minister of Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration started the implantation of the Free Senior High School programme.
He is of the firm conviction that assertions by communicators and officials of the Akufo-Addo-led administration that it is the current government that is introducing the programme is wrong.
“Free SHS was started in the year 2014, three years ago. The NDC under [former] President Mahama started free SHS” Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa said in an exclusive interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosi Sen Monday.
The free SHS programme will be rolled out in September and hundreds of junior high school (JHS) students are expected to benefit from it.
Under the programme, first year students who qualified to the senior high secondary schools will not be charged admission, library, science centre, computer laboratory, examination and utilities fees.
The free SHS logo was launched on Thursday by the President, announcing government’s preparedness to roll out the programme in the coming weeks.
But commenting on the matter, the former Deputy Education Minister said “I think the NDC as a party we need to improve on our communication strategy. Free SHS is not starting in Ghana on the 11th of September this year, it is not President Akufo-Addo who is starting free SHS and many people don’t know this.
“We had a loan facility from the World Bank under the Secondary Education Improvement Programme. Under this there were four components; the first was to build the 23 senior high schools, the second component is the training we provided for Maths, Science and ICT teachers, and there was a third component called Quality Improvement Facility upgrade, and the fourth categorically was the scholarships for needy senor high school students.
“The agreement we signed with the World Bank for the next five years at that time – 2014 to 2019 – was on granting scholarships, and implementing free SHS for 10,400 students.”
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