President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been asked to consider the Prebsy Church’s words and review the free Senior High School (SHS) programme.
This call was made by Mr Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Education Watch, on the Ghana Tonight show with Alfred Ocansey on TV3 on Wednesday, August 17.
Mr. Kofi Aare stated, “His Excellency the President stated two weeks ago that the free SHS policy will not be cancelled, but he did not state that it will not be reviewed.” In any case, no one has said it should be cancelled, so I thought his comments should have addressed the review issue.
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“The free SHS is not your regular education programme, it is not the free compulsory universal basic education policy, it is a political promise.
“It is a policy which is driven from the seat of government, not the Ministry of Education. So every form of review of that programme will have to be initiated if not sanctioned, from the Presidency and only the President can do that fiat. So I can understand why the Minister is powerless even though I know that being an experienced educationist, exposed to global standards, I know the Minister will agree with us that given the circumstances we find ourselves in, the best way to spend limited resources is not to spend close to ¢1.5billion feeding children, some of whom are not poor.
“We can only hope that His Excellency, based on the appeal that the Presby Church made to him last Sunday in Abetifi, will review some of the items that government is paying.”
The Presbyterian Church of Ghana called on the government to shed some of the costs because “several” parents were ready and willing to contribute to their wards’ education.
Despite lauding President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his resolve to keep the Programme even in the face of an impending bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Church said it is obvious there are huge budget deficits, making it difficult for government to meet all demands under the Programme.
“Your Excellency, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana is of the strong opinion that the state can shed off some of these costs for those who are capable of bearing them to do so because there are several parents who are capable and willing to contribute to the education of their children.”
This was contained in a communique issued after the 22nd General Assembly of the Church.
The 22nd General Assembly was held between Wednesday, August 10 and Sunday, August 14 on the theme: ‘Christ in you, the Hope of Glory’.
The Church raised a number of issues of concern, among which bordered on corruption, economic hardships, perceived miscarriage of justice in the courts and, other perceived or real deficits in the management of the state.
It was full of praise for the government for introducing a pro-poor policy like the Free SHS.
“For the government to have sacrificed many developmental needs to ensure that every child, without regard to economic background, is able to access secondary education is indeed laudable.”
It assured of its commitment to the development of the country.
“The Presbyterian Church of Ghana is committed to contributing its quota to the development of the nation,” the General Assembly assured.
“We resolve to cooperate with the state in achieving the common aspirations of our people.
“We pledge our holistic support for any noble effort geared towards promoting peace, stability, and prosperity in the country.”
