Ex-President Mahama receiving a certificate from the organisers of the programme
FORMER PRESIDENT John Dramani Mahama has finally admitted in public that the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy introduced by the Akufo-Addo
administration is the best so it should be sustained.
“The Free SHS programme is here to stay,” these were the exact
words of Mr. Mahama in Kumasi yesterday, attracting wild applause from his huge
audience at the Kumasi Technical University campus during the official opening
of the Ghana National Union of Technical Students (GNUTS) 27th Annual
Residential Delegates Congress.
His comments clearly contradict earlier plans by himself and leading
members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who have been
accused of threatening to collapse the Free SHS policy if they regain power.
Mr. Mahama, who appeared candid, stated emphatically that no
government in the country could collapse the Free SHS programme, which he said
is a positive social intervention policy to benefit the people.
“The Free SHS programme is here to stay; indeed, it is a policy that is guaranteed by the 1992 Constitution of our
country so nobody or government can reverse it,” Mr. Mahama pointed out.
Despite criticisms and opposition from the NDC, the New Patriotic
Party (NPP) government successfully introduced the Free SHS policy just seven
months after assuming the mantle of leadership of the state in 2017.
Mr. Mahama after praising the policy then turned round to lambast the
NPP administration for allowing several challenges to confront the Free SHS
programme.
“In my first three months in political office in 2021, I will call
a major stakeholders’ meeting, where parents, guardians and teachers, among others, will assemble to give solutions to how to properly manage the Free SHS policy,” he said confidently.
According to him, it is the core duty of every government to make
the Free SHS programme “qualitative and enjoyable for the students, who are the
beneficiaries and my administration will ensure just that”.
The former President also said he would complete the remaining day secondary school projects, which were part of the 200 new schools he started, which he claimed had been left in the bush to rot by the NPP government.
