Former president John Mahama has once again reiterated that he will continue with the Free SHS program of the Akufo-Addo administration.
He said he has no plans to scrap it if he returns to power contrary to assertions on the streets.
According to him, he has never been against Free SHS but had issues with its implementation process which he claims has caused parents, students, and teachers great inconvenience.
“Free Senior High School education has come to stay. If anybody tells you that I, John Dramani Mahama, will abolish Free SHS when I come into power tell the person he is a bloody liar,” Myjoyonline quoted him while paying a courtesy call on the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Abukari II.
The Free SHS, introduced in September 2017, meant that the fees of every child in Ghana, who gained admission to a public Senior High School, will be absorbed by the government.
It also meant free tuition, admission, textbooks, library fees, science centre fees, fees for ICT, examination fees, utility fees, boarding, and meals.
This, the government believed, will remove any cost barrier that prevents students from achieving their educational goals.
The policy, however, has not been spared from challenges. The increased rate of admissions cased a shortage of infrastructure in some schools with students allegedly forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor.
Subsequently, government introduced a double-track system to alleviate the living challenges.
John Mahama explained that the Akufo-Addo government would have had fewer challenges with the policy had they continued with the E-Block schools the NDC was constructing when in power, to accommodate students.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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