Professor Stephen Adei, an economist and the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, has urged for a rethink of the government’s hallmark Free Senior High School policy.
Despite the multiple benefits of the Senior High School policy, Prof. Adei explained in an interview on JoyNews’ Upfront with Raymond Acquah on Wednesday that the policy is stretching the already strained economy because government has to allocate roughly GH7.5 billion every year to the policy.
According to him, the government should exempt some of the country’s “top Senior High Schools” from the scheme.
“We have to look at it again. I think that there are certain schools which we should make autonomous and fee-paying and people will go there, but then make sure there are good community schools for everybody else. So the Achimota’s and the Wey Gey Hey’s, which people want their children to go, let them pay,” he noted.
The government might then use the cash spent on the finest secondary schools to construct community secondary schools, according to the former Chairman of the Ghana Revenue Authority.
“Only a small proportion of the poor come to Achimota, let the rich go there and pay. Use the Achimota funds to have very good schools in every district so that they can be there and don’t have to travel. They just come from the villages,” he added.
Meanwhile, despite the country’s current fiscal woes, President Akufo-Addo has stated that the government will continue to implement the flagship Free SHS policy.
The President said, speaking at the induction of a new Registrar and Vice-Chancellor of the S.D. Dombo University in January 2022, that the government is aware of existing obstacles that have negatively impacted the economy, but that it will continue with its social intervention programs because of promising measures in place.
Source: myjoyonline.com
Hmmm