The President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Daniel Oppong Kyeremeh, has made a passionate appeal for the uncapping of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).
This is to ensure adequate funding for the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy and address persistent issues such as the prevalence of schools under trees.
Speaking to Emefa Apawu on EduTalk, Mr. Kyeremeh stressed the need to allow GETFund to receive its full statutory allocation, which he believes is crucial for the holistic development of education in Ghana.
He argued that, the current practice of capping the fund has limited its potential impact on the education sector.
“If we really care about education, then the main statutory fund that’s funding education should not be touched. Imagine we have all the GHS7 billion? We’re also asking for the exemption from the budget. When it’s uncapped and it’s still in the budget, then we don’t get the full allocation,” he explained.
The NUGS President emphasised that if the full GHS7 billion generated by GETFund in 2023 were allocated entirely to the fund, many of the challenges facing the Free SHS policy, such as inadequate desks in classrooms, books, and other essential resources, could be effectively addressed.
Mr. Kyeremeh also indicated that the broader implications of adequately funding GETFund, will include the elimination of schools under trees and make significant strides in educational development across the country.
He called on the government to prioritise the uncapping of GETFund as a critical step towards ensuring that the Free SHS programme can continue to transform the lives of Ghanaian youth and contribute to the nation’s development.
“If you want to continue with this novel idea of changing the lives of the young ones to developers of this country, then one of the key areas you should be looking at is the uncapping of GETFund, which will give us funds to fund Free SHS, to be able to solve issues with schools under trees and other substantial issues with the development in our various institutions,” he added.
The student leader also revealed that the union met with the two major political parties – New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress – to make input into their manifestos ahead of the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7.
According to him, it will be an indictment on the union if it does not partake in policymaking and is looking at further engaging other political parties aside from the NDC and the NPP.
Mr. Kyeremeh further demanded that the next government must, as a matter of urgency, implement policies to tackle the bugging unemployment in the country, invest in agriculture to change the narrative of Ghana’s education.