Following the announcement of a new academic calendar for Senior High Schools, the Deputy Minister for Education, Rev. Ntim Fordjour, is reported to have declared the double-track system as abolished.
Asked during an interview with Okay FM if introducing a new academic calendar will mean the abolishment of the Double Track System, the Deputy Minister for Education answered in the affirmative.
He further clarified that there would no longer be red, yellow and green tracks adding that “schools without enough facilities to absorb the current system will have only one batch to be on vacation. That is; If first years are on vacation, you still have second and final year students still in school.”
But in a social media post clarifying the details of the new calendar, the Public Relations officer of the Education Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng, has stated that the introduction of the new calendar has not brought the end of the double-track system.
“Double Track is not completely abolished. We have eliminated the double-entry of Form One and Form Two students. What it means is that all Form One and Form Two students will go to school each as one cohort, not divided into two,” he wrote.
Kwasi Kwarteng added that the double-track system would be completely abolished once government fulfils its commitment to building more schools to accommodate the entire student population across the country.
“As more school buildings are completed, entire school populations will report to school at the same time as one cohort as it pertains in Single Track schools,” he added.
The double-track system was introduced by the government to manage an increase in the Senior High School student population in relation to limited infrastructure.
The introduction of the Free Senior High School policy by the government in 2017 led to an increase in student enrolment, causing a strain on infrastructure.
The headmaster of Jachie-Pramso Senior High School has been interdicted pending investigations into his reported canning of a student.
According to a Facebook post from the Ghana Education Service, the headmaster, Francis Donkor, “has been directed to hand over the administration and Management of the school to the Ashanti Regional Director of Education.â€
The Bosomtwe District Education Directorate in the Ashanti Region had earlier disclosed to Citi News that investigations were ongoing into the incident.
According to the final year student, Mary Amoako Gabriel, the headmaster inflicted wounds on parts of her body after she was beaten for handing over her jacket to another student who was accused of dressing indecently last week.
Bosomtwe District Education Director, Agyemang Dua
Speaking to Citi News, the Bosomtwe District Education Director, Agyemang Dua, said the headmaster has been summoned by the Ashanti Regional Education Directorate as part of investigations into the matter.
“My understanding is that some investigative team is already in the district doing their independent investigations into the matter and when their investigations are done, I believe the Regional Directorate will issue a statement on it,†he said.
Mr. Agyemang Dua who described the incident as unfortunate called on headmasters and teachers in various schools to desist from corporal punishment in schools.
Some 742 students who completed in the 2019/2020 academic year in four institutions failed to return a total of 2,594 core subject textbooks to their schools, the 2020 Auditor-General Report has revealed.
The Report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana- Pre-University Educational Institutions for the year ended December 31, 2020, available to the Ghana News Agency in Tema showed that the core subject textbooks were valued at a total cost of GH¢77, 820.00.
The PFM Act requires a Principal Spending Officer of a covered entity, state-owned enterprise or public cooperation responsible for the assets of the institution under the care of the Principal Spending Officer to ensure that proper control systems exist for custody and management of the assets.
The institutions cited were; Ashaiman SHS with 237 students and 718 unreturned textbooks costing GH¢21,540.00; Teshie Technical Training Centre, with 177 and 578 unreturned textbooks valued at GH¢17,340.00.
The rest are; West Africa Senior High School which had 167 students default, and 610 textbooks unreturned valued at GHS18, 300.00, while 161 students of the Achimota Senior High School failed to return 688 textbooks totalling GH¢20, 640.00.
The report said, the situation could deny other students the use of the books and could constitute a financial loss to the schools and the state.
The Auditor-General, therefore, recommended to the management of the institutions to notify the parents of the affected students to return the books, or in default, pay their value as directed by the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service.
The report also stated that the Headmaster and the storekeeper should be held liable for the amount if they failed to recover the books from the students.
According to the Auditor-General, the irregularities identified in the 2020 report, resulted, generally from the lack of commitment on the part of the Head of the Institutions to ensure compliance with established internal controls and regulations governing the management of financial resources.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) has released an amount of Gh¢125,998,145.00 to the Buffer Stock Company and Headmasters of Senior High Schools for the payment of perishable food items for the school feeding programme across the country.
Out of the total amount paid on May 14, 2021, Gh¢83, 184,673.00 was released to the Buffer Stock Company while Gh¢42, 813,472.00 went to the Headmasters of SHSs for the second semester.
This was contained in a press release signed by Mr Benjamin Kofi Gyasi, Chief Director, MOE and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
The statement said on April 28, 2021, a total amount of Gh¢102, 350,871.20 was paid to the Buffer Stock Company and Headmasters for the first semester.
“The Ministry is, therefore, assuring all parents and other stakeholders once again that the Free Senior High School (FSHS) initiative is not under stress as was being peddled around by some people for reasons best known to them,” it said.
Assisted Secondary Schools across the country have run out of food owing to failure by the Buffer Stock company to supply them non-perishable foods.
The situation has been exacerbated by delays in the release of funds to the schools by government.
The heads have been running the schools on credit for two months now without money from government.
“Buffer stock has not supplied food to any school. Management of GES has not released funds to our accounts. The last time our executives met and raised this issue they promised us to expect the monies in our accounts in a week or two but it is almost a month now.
“There is no food and no money. We are running the schools on credit. I have to buy food on credit to cook for the students. It is really frustrating. Running the school has been hell but they have gagged everybody like you people term it as culture of Silence. If you complain right now and you are fished out, you will regret it,†Head of a Senior High School told Starr news under condition of anonymity.
Starr News has gathered that government has paid only 50% of disbursement for SHS 3 students who completed their first semester, but has not paid anything for SHS 1 students who have been in school for more than 8 weeks.
The Heads of SHSs are mounting pressure on Executives of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) to call for an emergency meeting and issue an ultimatum to GES through the media over the issue.
They say they will not hesitate to shut their schools if the situation remains the same after all these efforts.
“Why should a Headmaster go to borrow money to run the school. Domestic Bursars are begging and buying perishable foods on credit to feed student population of about 3000. You call the Regional Manager for the Buffer Stock and he tells you I can only get you bags of Gariâ€.
According to government, the implementation of the Free SHS Program has resulted in increased demand for secondary education.
The total number of beneficiaries for the 2019/2020 academic year was 1,200,580 students compared to a total number of 813,448 in the 2016/2017 academic year.
The Minister of Finance Ken Ofori Atta said during the presentation of the mid-year review of the 2020 Budget in Parliament on July 23 that, government had invested an amount GH¢3.2 billion in the implementation of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) Program since inception in 2017.
The three major teacher unions in Ghana have given government up to Friday, March 19 to provide a “favourable†response to their concerns about food supplies and funds to senior high schools as part of the Free SHS Policy.
According to the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana (CCT-G), for the past eight weeks since schools re-opened for the 2020/2021 academic year, food supplies by the Buffer Stock Company has stopped.
They also claim the Ministry of Education has failed to transfer the needed funds for the smooth running of schools.
Addressing journalists in Accra on Wednesday, March 10, General Secretary of GNAT Thomas Musah Tanko said the situation has brought the senior high schools to their knees.
He admitted that the introduction of the free school feeding as part of the Free SHS Policy in September, 2017 increased enrolment and improved the nutritional status of students.
“It is unfortunate, heartbreaking and disturbing that the schools have to look for funds elsewhere to cater for the SHS students until funds are disbursed from the Ministry of Education.
“We reiterate that further delay will impact negatively on the smooth running of the Free SHS Policy.â€
The unions, at the joint press conference, called on government to save the “precarious and difficult situation.â€
They said by next week if the favourable response is not received, they will have no option than to close down schools.
A beneficiary of the free Senior School in the Western Region has refused to go back to school.
The 15-year-old girl (name withheld) says her reason is that she is pregnant and due to give birth in two months.
She was in form one and was preparing to go to form two when the Coronavirus outbreak hit Ghana and schools were closed.
The young lady disclosed on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm that, she got pregnant because the young man responsible for her pregnancy was supporting her financially and so she had no option other than to have a relationship with him.
According to her, her parents could not take care of her needs, and when she even needed new clothes and food, they were unable to provide that for her.
Following this, she decided to date a galamsey operator who was giving her GH¢50 every day.
She has also refused to go back to school even if the parents decide to care for the baby.
She disclosed she would not be able to concentrate on her studies because her attention would be on her baby.
President Akufo-Addo has announced that both form 1 and 3 students in Senior High Schools(SHS) in the country will no longer run the double-track system.
“The expansion of infrastructure at various Senior High Schools over the last three years has brought us to this favourable situation,†President Akufo-Addo revealed this in his 21st Covid 19 update on Sunday, January 3, 2020.
Meanwhile, he said the double-track system will still be applicable to SHS 2 students in schools that are employing it.
According to the President, all SHS 1 students will start classes from 10th March 2021, while SHS 2 and SHS 3 students will return to school from 18th January 2021.
Also, students in the Universities and other Tertiary institutions will return to school from Saturday, January 09, 2021, President Akufo-Addo announced.
A promise by the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress to extend the Free Senior High School initiative to private institutions has been warmly received by the Coalition of Parents of Students in Private Institutions.
According to the coalition, the policy if implemented will help relieve parents of their financial burden.
The group said in a press release that every Ghanaian child has a right to free education whether in private or public schools.
It, therefore, expressed optimism that in the event that John Dramani Mahama wins the December 7 polls, he will honour his promise to them.
“Every child in Ghana deserves the best of care and a piece of the national cake. We are very optimistic that this promise will come true,†he said.
The Coalition then urged its members to show interest in the upcoming elections and support the fruition of this idea and follow up on its implementation.
“These are our rights and nobody should stop us from enjoying them. We are urging our students in private institutions to have hope, that this country will not disappoint them and that, the war of life sometimes begins with difficult battles and it is only those who preserver that succeed.â€
The extension of the Free SHS to private second cycle institutions is one of the promises made by the NDC in its manifesto.
The NDC said that it will improve the Free SHS policy, scrap the doubletrack system and make students of private schools beneficiaries of the project.
“We plan to make the Free SHS more inclusive by expanding it to cover students in private senior high schools in under-served and deprived parts of the country,†Professor Jane Naana Opoku said at the manifesto launch.
President of Policy Think Tank IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe has said that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is the luckiest political party going into the 2020 election.
The IMANI Africa boss acknowledged that the Free SHS policy will be a game-changer for the governing New Patriotic Party.
In his estimation, the NPP has about five hundred thousand votes from the beneficiaries of the most touted policy, Free SHS.
Mr. Cudjoe who made this known said although there are allegations of corruption that have become an albatross on the neck of the President and some members of his government, first-time voters do not care about these allegations.
The IMANI Africa President said, “The NPP is very lucky. Free SHS is the game-changer for them. Potentially they have at least 500k Free SHS votes. These first-time voters care less about corruptionâ€.
Chair of the Ghana Education Service Council (GES) Micheal Nsowah has clarified that the activities of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in schools have not been cancelled.
He told TV3’s Alfred Ocansey during a forum on Education Privatization in Ghana on Monday, November 30.
His clarification come after a Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Cape Coast, George K.T. Oduro, had raised concerns of the inactivity of PTAs in the various schools.
Mr Nsowa said: “PTA has not been cancelled but the PTA dues which deprives students from going to school is the problem.”
“There is no document that says that PTA has been cancelled. PTAs can organize themselves. PTA dues agreed by parents to support the school becomes a fee that if your parents do not pay, you do not go to school is the problem.”
“PTA dues should not deny any student from going to school,†he stressed.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has expressed shock over claims by former President Mahama that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) introduced the free Senior High School education policy.
According to the Vice President, he is not sure whether the leadership of the NDC is confused or assumes Ghanaians have short memories.
Delivering a presentation on “a case for 4 more years to do more for you†Thursday November 26, 2020, Dr. Bawumia said it is shameful that the party that bastardised the free SHS policy when it was introduced by President Akufo-Addo, will now be fighting for credit.
“They said it was a hoax, a 419 promise. They said if he had GH¢2billion they would not spend it on free SHS. They said free SHS would collapse the education system.
“The NDC run over 40 adverts against free SHS. But the visionary Nana Akufo-Addo stuck to his guns and has successfully implemented the free SHS policy.
“Today, the NDC is saying they started free SHS! “Awurade Nyankopong!†he added.
The Vice President explained that although the NDC in a bid to prevent the implementation of the policy took the matter up at the Supreme Court, that promise to Ghanaians by the NPP has been fulfilled.
According to him, the government has not only alleviated the suffering of parents, but the targets set for the policy have also been exceeded.
“So far, we have invested over GH¢3.2 billion to implement free SHS, resulting in over 1.2 million teenagers being in secondary school now, looking forward to better opportunities in life.
“For their parents and families, this has translated into GH¢2.2 billion in savings. That is money that the State has put back into the pockets of Ghanaians all across the country.â€
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia used the opportunity to urge all Ghanaians to be mindful of the clueless stewardship of former President John Mahama prior to the election of the NPP government in 2016 so as not to jeopardize the progress made by not retaining the NPP.
“We ask you to give us four more years because our government, borne out of the NPP, under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has kept faith with you, Ghanaians, by delivering on the commitments we made to you.
“We are on track, having significantly delivered on our mandate,â€Â the Vice President said.
Majority of students from the first batch of the Free Senior High School (FSHS) policy, who obtained excellent grades in the 2020 WASSCE are to benefit from a government scholarship to enable them pursue tertiary education.
The scholarship scheme will specifically target the brilliant students from deprived homes.
The Registrar of Scholarships at the Scholarship Secretariat in the Office of the President, Mr Kingsley Agyemang who disclosed this in a radio interview Wednesday morning [November 25, 2020] said his outfit would be making a major announcement at a press conference on Tuesday, December 1, 2020.
He said the Secretariat was therefore seizing the opportunity to inform the 2020 WASSCE graduates to prepare themselves for a big announcement from the Secretariat on Tuesday.
He said the retooled Ghana Scholarships Secretariat is now strategically positioned to effectively deliver on its mandate of awarding scholarships to Ghanaians for tertiary education.
Mr Agyemang’s revelation in a radio interview on Accra based Oman FM, monitored by Graphic Online followed a social media appeal for assistance for a student from the Adeiso Senior High School in the Eastern Region, who obtained grade A1 in all eight subjects in the 2020 WASSCE but comes from a deprived home.
Thomas Amoaning lives in Asuaba near Adeiso and studied General Arts at the SHS level.
He obtained Excellent grades of A1 in Social Studies, English Language, Mathematics (Core), Integrated Science, Economics, Geography, Government and Mathematics (Elective).
His dream is to study Economics at the University of Ghana.Â
A video interview [attached below] of how he was able to go to senior high school because of the free SHS educational policy has been shared on social media.
Amoaning in the interview narrated how he walked from Asuaba to Adeiso, a distance of about 6-kilometres on a daily basis to attend school.
He was a day student.
He said he was motivated to persevere because of his poor background.
His mother also narrated how Thomas, who is her second born would not have been able to go to SHS but for the free SHS policy and assistance from his teachers in Asuaba.
Scholarship
Following that, the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat in the Office of the President in a press statement issued Tuesday, November 24, 2020 by the Registrar, Kingsley Agyemang said, “H.E. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has taken notice of a social media video reporting of the excellent results of Thomas Amoaning who lives in Asuaba near Adeiso and attended Adeiso SHS.”
It said as a normal practice and taking into consideration the socio-geographical background of the student, President Akufo-Addo has expressly directed the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat to grant a full scholarship award to the student for his tertiary studies.
It added that the Scholarship Secretariat has already established contact with the student and parent and will on Friday, November 27, 2020 pay a visit to the family to discuss their needs in detail.
After that, the Education Committee of the Scholarship Secretariat headed by Professor S.Y. Mensah will do a need based assessment to determine the way forward for Thomas Amoaning.
Beneficiaries
In the radio interview with Oman FM monitored by Graphic Online on Wednesday morning, Mr Agyemang said the scholarship secretariat has decentralized to the district level and would have captured Master Thomas Amoaning even without the social media appeal.
He said since the decentralization of the secretariat at the district level and also making the application available online, the number of applications have increased.
Since the portal was opened on March 31, 2020 and closed on June 15, 2020, a total of 278,350 applications were received, he said.
After going through the process including interviews at the district level, a total of about 45,000 would be getting the scholarship this year, Mr Agyemang added.
He said the number is expected to go up after the December 1 announcement to enable majority of the students from the first batch of the free SHS to get the opportunity for further studies.
He said already, one Abednego Sackey who obtained good grades at the SHS level and was from a deprived background is currently pursuing studies in medicine in Cuba on government scholarship.
Charlotte is also currently at Robert Gordon in Scotland on government scholarship.
Similarly, the child of a teacher who was gruesomely murdered in the Eastern Region has also been offered scholarship to pursue further studies, Mr Agyemang said.
Watch the video interview of Thomas Amoaning and mother below
A student from the Adeiso Senior High School in the Eastern Region, who obtained grade A1 in all eight subjects in the 2020 WASSCE but comes from a deprived home is to get government scholarship to pursue tertiary education.
Thomas Amoaning lives in Asuaba near Adeiso and read General Arts.
He obtained Excellent grades of A1 in Social Studies, English Language, Mathematics (Core), Integrated Science, Economics, Geography, Government and Mathematics (Elective).
His dream is to attend the University of Ghana to read Economics.
A video interview [attached below] of how he was able to go to senior high school because of the free SHS educational policy has been shared on social media.
Amoaning in the interview narrated how he walked from Asuaba to Adeiso, a distance of about 6-kilometres on a daily basis to attend school. Happy Farmers day
He was a day student.
He said he was motivated to persevere because of his poor background.
His mother also narrated how Thomas, who is her second born would not have been able to go to SHS but for the free SHS policy
Following that, the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat in the Office of the President in a press statement issued Tuesday, November 24, 2020 by the Registrar, Kingsley Agyemang said, “H.E. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has taken notice of a social media video reporting of the excellent results of Thomas Amoaning who lives in Asuaba near Adeiso and attended Adeiso SHS.”
It said the student reportedly scored 8 ‘A’s in the recently released WASSCE results.
It said as a normal practice and taking into consideration the socio-geographical background of the student, President Akufo-Addo has expressly directed the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat to grant a full scholarship award to the student for his tertiary studies.
It added that the Scholarship Secretariat has already established contact with the student and parent and will on Friday, November 27, 2020 pay a visit to the family to discuss their needs in detail.
Meanwhile, the Registrar of Scholarship, Mr Agyemang also revealed that a major announcement from the Secretariat would be made on Tuesday, December 1, 2020.
“We again, seize this opportunity to inform our cherished WASSCE graduates to prepare themselves for a big announcement from the Secretariat on Tuesday, 1st December, 2020.”
“The retooled Ghana Scholarships Secretariat is now strategically positioned to effectively deliver on its mandate of awarding scholarships to Ghanaians for tertiary education,” it added.
Seasoned Journalist, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has said the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) shouldn’t think their Free SHS policy is their trump card into the December elections.
The NPP is upbeat about their Free Senior High School (SHS) policy giving them victory during the general elections on Monday, December 7.
The party believes, with the successful rollout of the policy, their candidate, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will be granted a second term in office.
But Mr. Pratt has asked the NPP not to bank their hopes on the free education policy.
He explained that free education is not the main incentive to influence the votes of Ghanaians in favour of a particular candidate.
Speaking on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’, he chronicled events in the history of Ghana where political parties promised free education but it didn’t translate into votes.
To him, winning an election has got a lot to do with the choice of the electorate of a suitable candidate than it has to do with who introduced or implemented the free education programme.
“They are the first political party that didn’t only promise but also showed how they were going to raise the money. The Convention People’s Party also brought about this policy in the year 2000…but nobody voted for them. So, when you take a critical look at it, it doesn’t mean necessarily you will be voted for because the pioneers were not even voted for.”
“From the 1950s, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah introduced free compulsory basic education; enrollment in Secondary schools went up about nearly 1000 percent in the space of five years and so on but he was even overthrown,” he said.
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has applauded the first batch of beneficiaries of the Free Senior High School policy for their excellent showing in the 2020 West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
According to President Akufo-Addo, “I am reliably informed that the WASSCE results of Aburi Girls Senior High School, and, indeed, of all 2020 SHS graduates, was extremely impressive. Those who claimed that the policy was not achievable must be very ashamed now. I will shelve that conversation for now so we deal with it another day.
The President continued, “However, I wish to congratulate all the students for their brilliant performance in WASSCE examinations,” President Akufo-Addo said.
President Akufo-Addo made this known on Monday, 23rd November 2020, when he addressed party faithful and traditional rulers at Aburi, on day 2 of his 2-day tour of the Eastern Region.
Indeed, the 2020 results of the WASSCE candidates is the only year in the past six (6) years that more than fifty percent (50%) of candidates who sat the examination obtained A1-C6 in all core subjects.
Further analysis of the 2020 results revealed that performances in Mathematics and English Language were the highest, recording 65.71 and 57.34 per cent, respectively. Social Studies and Integrated Science recorded 64.31 and 52.53 per cent, respectively, the checks further indicated.
The data also shows that about 60% of the 342,500 candidates who wrote the WASSCE, representing over 200,000, scored between A1 and C6 in their best six subjects, including English and Mathematics, which qualifies them for tertiary education.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has applauded the first batch of beneficiaries of the Free Senior High School policy for their excellent showing in the 2020 West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
According to President Akufo-Addo, “I am reliably informed that the WASSCE results of Aburi Girls Senior High School, and, indeed, of all 2020 SHS graduates, was extremely impressive. Those who claimed that the policy was not achievable must be very ashamed now. I will shelve that conversation for now so we deal with it another day.
The President continued, “However, I wish to congratulate all the students for their brilliant performance in WASSCE examinations,†President Akufo-Addo said.
President Akufo-Addo made this known on Monday, 23rd November 2020, when he addressed party faithful and traditional rulers at Aburi, on day 2 of his 2-day tour of the Eastern Region.
Indeed, the 2020 results of the WASSCE candidates is the only year in the past six (6) years that more than fifty percent (50%) of candidates who sat the examination obtained A1-C6 in all core subjects.
Further analysis of the 2020 results revealed that performances in Mathematics and English Language were the highest, recording 65.71 and 57.34 per cent, respectively. Social Studies and Integrated Science recorded 64.31 and 52.53 per cent, respectively, the checks further indicated.
The data also shows that about 60% of the 342,500 candidates who wrote the WASSCE, representing over 200,000, scored between A1 and C6 in their best six subjects, including English and Mathematics, which qualifies them for tertiary education.
The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama, has once again refuted suggestions that an NDC government under him will abandon the Free SHS policy.
“I have never said anywhere that I will abolish Free SHS, never if you have any voice of me saying I will abandon free SHS, prove it to me. Nobody can reverse Free SHS, Free SHS is here to stay,†the former president said in an interview on Abusua 96.5 FM Wednesday on day two of his Ashanti regional campaign tour.
Mr. Mahama stated that claims he will abolish the free SHS policy is deliberate misinformation being perpetuated by members of the New Patriotic Party.
According to him, he began the free SHS policy in 2015 during his tenure adding that it is ridiculous for anybody to suggest that he will cancel a policy he implemented.
He added that he will improve the policy and abolish the Double Track system in his first year by expanding secondary schools and constructing new ones to accommodate new students.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the newest educational intervention by the NPP, the guarantor-free tertiary students loan, is to create equal opportunities for access to tertiary education in Ghana.
The Akufo-Addo government has already delivered an unprecedented intervention at the senior high school (SHS) level. In its first year of assuming office in 2017, the Akufo-Addo government fulfilled its promise to make secondary education free, and three years on, over 1.2 million children at all levels of secondary school are benefitting from the intervention, which also includes free meals, uniforms and textbooks.
As the first batch of the Free SHS graduates await their WASCEE examination results, and many others struggle to access tertiary education, Vice President Bawumia says the visionary government of Nana Akufo-Addo has put in place a policy which will allow qualified senior high school students to access tertiary education without any hindrance.
“We have a big vision for the education of Ghanaian children and our focus is not to leave them at SHS but to see all qualified SHS graduates progress to the university,” Dr Bawumia said at Dunkwa on-Offin on Sunday, November 1, 2020.
“If we have brought Free SHS because many parents can’t afford to finance the secondary education of their children, how do we expect the same parents to be able to pay for their children to attend universities? That is why we have a new policy, through which all qualified students can access loans and pay their fees.”
Dr Bawumia explained in detail, requirements for the tertiary student loan, which will replace the current student loan system.
“All that is required is a Ghana card. Once you have your Ghana Card, you can access a loan to pay for your tertiary fees and then pay back in instalments after National Service and another one year grace period after national service, by which time you would hopefully be working.”
“This is new thinking by the visionary Akufo-Addo, which will ensure that qualified Free SHS graduates who cannot pay for their university education won’t be left behind at the secondary level. We want every qualified child to go the university. This is what we mean by equal opportunity.”
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) has said it meant no harm when it called for a review of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy after three years of implementation.
According to CHASS, their call was only to ensure that there was the effective implementation of the policy.
The CHASS at its 5th Annual Conference held in Cape Coast last week highlighted some key challenges with the implementation of the free SHS and called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) and other stakeholders to consider a review of the policy to ensure effective implementation and positive outcomes.
It specifically mentioned how PTA activities were gradually dying in the schools and raised concerns over the quality of the buffer stock in the schools.
Their call had received several reactions from the government, and the general public.
However, addressing a press in Cape Coast at the weekend, the president of CHASS, Mr Yakub Abubakar said the Association was expecting the government to sit down and dialogue with them to find solutions to the challenges identified.
“CHASS never meant any harm to any system and like we mentioned in our meeting, are not a partisan Association. We are only looking at issues and seeking redress as they should. This is exactly what CHASS meant and nothing outside itâ€, he stressed.
“We are there to implement government policy and for that matter, CHASS will at all times implement the policies of the government of the dayâ€, he added.
In this regard, he noted, it was only fair for CHASS to be allowed to point out challenges with the policies for effective implementation to achieve a positive impact.
Mr Abubakar said CHASS recognised the efforts of the government to ensure the success of the free SHS policy and assured that the Association remained grateful and cooperative to work towards its sustainability.
He said CHASS was ready to sit and discuss issues with the government to find a way forward towards ensuring that the free SHS policy worked effectively for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
An attempt by the Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) to make parents pay levies under the Free SHS programme has been blocked by the government.
According to state-owned Daily Graphic, at a meeting on Thursday, October 30, 2020, CHASS put forth a proposal for the review of the Free SHS policy that would allow for the payment of Parent Teacher Association (PTA) levies.
However, the state-owned media outlet disclosed in a report on Friday, October 30, 2020, that after an interview with Deputy Education Minister, Dr Yaw Adutwum, he said reintroducing the PTA levies goes against the reasons for which the Free SHS policy was introduced.
“To say that the government should somehow allow you [CHASS] to levy your own fees against parents in an era of Free Senior High School is what I don’t understand. I really don’t understand the point in saying that Senior High School is free, the government has absorbed fees, the government is even paying development levies, which is even supposed to be used for school construction and other infrastructure development that the school wants to undertake and yet we are still asking the government to allow us to levy the students, no!” Daily Graphic quoted the Deputy Minister.
The Minister, according to the report, explained that if parents voluntarily decide to support a school, that should be permissible.
“…if you have a group of parents, or parents of any school, who are saying that, can we support our school, yes, of course, they can support their school, they can voluntarily donate to support their school in the same way that old students do but cannot allow the introduction of fees through the back door…†the Deputy was quoted further in the report.
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) has called for an immediate review of the Free Senior High Schol policy.
The conference holds the view that the policy which implementation started three years ago has resulted in the collapse of Parent Teachers Associations in schools across the country which is responsible for many abandoned projects and support for schools.
Speaking at the 5th annual conference of CHASS at Wesley Girls SHS in Cape Cape, the President of CHASS Yakubu Abubakar asked the Ghana Education Service and relevant stakeholders to look at the possibility of reversing that part of the policy to enable school authorities discharge their duties effectively.
“Our observation over the period is that PTA activities are gradually dying in our schools. Hitherto, the PTAs were playing very significant roles in our schools. If a policy is in place and for the past three years it is not working then it needs to be relooked at. No wonder you go to many schools and you see PTA abandoned projects at various levels. At present even though there are delays in the release of funds, schools do not have the leverage like PTA to assist them and so making the effective administration of schools problematic. After three years of the implementation of the Free SHS policy, CHASS is calling for a review of the policy.â€
The Conference, further called for a review of the portion of feeding grant given to schools for perishables to be increased from 30% to a minimum of 40%.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government’s flagship Free Senior High School (FSHS) has significantly increased female enrolment for secondary education in the country.
In a media interview on on Monday, October 12, Dr. Bawumia explained that, the introduction of the Free SHS policy had ended a disturbing trend, which saw the education of many females from poor families being truncated in favour of sponsoring a male child due to lack of funding.
The introduction of the Free SHS, Dr Bawumia indicated, had solved many social problems including; the improvement in female enrollment at the secondary school level.
“Prior to the introduction of Free SHS, there was this situation of families who couldn’t afford to pay fees of all their children and normally sacrificing the females in order to mobilise money and concentrate on the male child.
“This situation left the girls behind and many of them ended up as house girls. It was all because parents could not afford to pay all children and the family would decide to sponsor the male and drop the female,” the Vice President observed.
The Vice President said the policy was well- thought out by the compassionate Akufo-Addo, who brought it to give all children free access to secondary education to alleviate the suffering of parents.
“President Akufo-Addo is a compassionate leader and the Free SHS policy was meant to build an educated population by giving all children from every part of the country, regardless of the social and economic status of their parents, free access to secondary education,” he emphasised.
The policy, he said, had resolved many problems such as lifting financial burden off parents and improved enrollment of female enrollment.
“Now people find it difficult to get young girls to be their house girls.” Dr Bawumia stated.
Former Acting General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), James Kwabena Bonfeh, also known as Kabila has admitted to ‘misjudging’ the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and their implementation of the free SHS policy.
“In 2016, I questioned the sincerity of the NPP campaign for free SHS because of the philosophy of their party; I said it was just for campaign…I am ready to say that as a human being who could make errors, I misjudged” he indicated
Kabila who was speaking to Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM morning show ‘Kokrokoo’ confessed that “I doubted it (Free SHS) but I am humbled to accept that Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP have beaten me”
The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, and the leadership of the NDC, on Friday morning called on former President Jerry John Rawlings to commiserate with him following the passing of his mother, Madam Victoria Agbotui.
President Mahama, in a brief remark, described the loss of Madam Agbotui as a shared one because she was always on hand to give wise counsel whenever she interacted with him and other party members.
He consoled President Rawlings and encouraged him to take heart as Mama had lived a full life and had seen it all.
The NDC flagbearer said “Mama was the kind of person one would assume would live forever…â€
He also assured the NDC Founder that the NDC will participate fully in the funeral activities of the late Madam Agbotui.
President Mahama was accompanied by the Vice Chairman of the NDC Council of Elders Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu, National Chairman Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia and other national executives of the party.
Madam Victoria Agbotui died in the early hours of Thursday, September 24 at the age of 101.
The Conference of Heads of Private Second-Cycle Schools (CHOPSS) has welcomed the promise by former President John Mahama to include private schools in the Free SHS policy if he wins power.
According to CHOPSS, the move will increase options for students when choosing which secondary school to attend.
The opposition NDC has promised to expand coverage of the Free SHS policy if they win the December polls. Private schools are currently not covered by the policy leading to several complaints from private school owners.
In a statement signed by its General Secretary Joseph Dzamesi Wednesday, CHOPSS said: “We believe that this is the only way the problem of access to secondary education, which gave rise to the double-track system of education can be solved. We believe that a public-private partnership of this nature is a win-win for the Ghanaian government, Ghanaian children, and Ghanaian educational entrepreneurs. This policy will protect many of the 335 private senior high schools in Ghana and protect over 10,000 jobs in the private secondary educational sector.
“It will give more options to Ghanaian children as they can choose to attend a private school near them or a public school. Finally, it will reduce the pressure on government in its attempt to build additional infrastructure in public schoolsâ€.
It added: “We posit that just as government partners with private health institutions to ensure that a patient can visit either a public or a private health facility when sick and, through the NHIS, the bill is paid, the same way the government should allow the Free SHS grant to follow the student if that student opts to attend a private or public SHS. We reject the suggestion that all mainstream private high schools or all private schools that do not charge fees in dollars are substandard schools.
“We have private schools that have better facilities than public schools and that have over the years outperformed public schools. We also reject the attempt to suggest that it is unconstitutional for government to partner with private schools to provide educational access to Ghanaian children. We believe that there are common grounds that are absolutely constitutional that can be reached to allow for partnerships with Private Senior High Schoolsâ€.
The Ministry of Education has denied ever engaging with the private schools to discuss the possibility of extending the Free Senior High programme (Free SHS) to the various private schools.
The Ministry has also denied meeting representatives of private schools after the launching of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto, as is been suggested on social media.
It has been reported on various social media platforms that the Education Ministry has met with private schools representatives to extend the free SHS programme to them soon after the launch of the NDC manifesto, which promised to do so if voted into power come December 7, 2020.
According to ministry, the Minister Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, in his engagements with the private schools’ representatives, never discussed the extension of Free SHS to private schools, adding that such publications should be disregarded.
In a letter dated 13th September 2020, signed by the Press Secretary to the Education Minister, Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng, and copied to otecfmghana.com, the meetings with the private schools were held on Wednesday and Thursday, September 3 and 4, 2020, respectively.
“On Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd September 2020, the Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh received delegations from the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNAPS) and the Ghana National Association Private Schools (GNAPS) at the Ministry to discuss a number of issues….†the letter noted.
“It must be noted that both meetings were held before the launch of the NDC manifesto on Monday, September 7, 2020. In both instances, the discussions were around post-COVID-19 challenges in the education sector and the way forward, the reopening of schools, private schools and their livelihoods and the sustenance of their businesses,†it added.
The letter continued that, “the general public is hereby invited completely disregard the opportunistic and desperate attempts to paint a contrary picture.â€
“Government remains commitment to ensuring the success of the free SHS programme to improve both access and quality education for Ghanaian children, and will not be side tracked from this objective,†the letter concluded
Dean of University of Professional Studies (UPSA) Law Faculty, Ernest Kofi Abotsi has said the flagship Free SHS programme of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government which has been endorsed and supported by the opposition parties is not entirely free as touted.
According to him, the cost of policies which are mostly branded free is indirectly paid by the ordinary tax-paying Ghanaian.
Contributing to a panel discussion on Newsfile he said, “to be honest, in reality, there is nothing free. All these things politicians promise are not free because we are paying for them with our taxes and by this reason, we are actually paying for them…â€
He continued; “What we are not doing is direct payment…as the beneficiary of these services that have been promised.â€
The ruling NPP government in their 2020 manifesto promised amongst other things to consolidate the implementation of the Free SHS programme while the opposition NDC, led by John Dramani Mahama promised to make the policy more inclusive and substantive.
By inclusive, the NDC meant that private schools will be captured under the policy.
However, Kofi Abotsi was quick to indicate that roping in private schools to the Free SHS policy would be illegal.
“…they simply have no capacity or mandate to do that…government cannot source its obligation to a private body,†he said.
The only way to achieve that, according to him, is if the government decides to bear the entire cost for the students in private schools.
The Free SHS policy was inaugurated in September 2017, barely a year after the Akufo-Addo-led government took over the helm of affairs after winning the 2016 general elections.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana is concerned about the ability of the institution to accommodate the influx of graduates from the Free SHS programme.
Prof Ebenezer Oduro Owusu said due to financial constraints, it is difficult for the university to expand its residential facilities.
Addressing the University of Ghana Maiden Virtual Congregation Ceremony, Prof Owusu said management is considering innovative ways to address the housing deficit on its Legon campus.
“The University for some time now, decoupled admission from accommodation due to financial obligations. This financial obligations and judgement debt, truly have affected our capacity to undertake further investments to augment the housing stock†VC said.
For some years now, fresh students have to fight for the limited space on the main campus with others having to forfeit their admission due to financial challenges in securing a room at a private hostel.
â€To address the accommodation challenge which will be posed by the influx of the first cohort of graduates from the Free SHS policy, management is considering various approaches including an off-campus arrangement to identify suitable private residential facilities and recommend same for interested students†Prof Owusu indicated.
A total of 375,737 candidates are currently writing the WASSCE and will be struggling for the limited space in the various public universities in September 2020.
The Chancellor of the University, Mary Chinery-Hesse also said the management is working towards receiving the first of graduates from the Free SHS programme.
She indicated that the institution is improving its infrastructure to offer a multidimensional approach to learning.
â€The University is preparing to receive the products of the first batch of the Free SHS Programme. The innovations thrust upon us by COVID-19 have afforded us the opportunity to explore both conventional and non-conventional ways of opening up access to higher education to these prospective studentsâ€
Madam Chinery-Hesse also added â€As the university works to complete the physical infrastructure to receive these students; we are also improving our IT infrastructure to strengthen our ability to offer a blended approach to teaching and learning.â€
The virtual graduation held on July 30, 2020, saw 133 students having their academic toils crowned.
Eighty-eight of this figure graduated with Bachelor of Law Degrees whiles the remaining 45 passed out with either Bachelor of Medicine or Bachelor of Dentistry Degrees.
In all, the University of Ghana will hold congregation for 14,295 students, comprising 964 students in the non-degree programmes, 8,236 undergraduates, 4,668 postgraduate students and 427 PhD students, with 6,807 being females and 7,488 being males.
Plans are underway to address the infrastructural challenges in the various universities across the country to build their capacity to increase their intake.
The move was in anticipation of more students coming out from the Senior High Schools (SHS) beginning this year due to the free SHS policy introduced three years ago.
When the policy was introduced in 2017, high school enrollment increased by 180,000 students over the previous year.
About 1.2 million students are currently in SHS. The first batch of students under the policy was expected to complete this year.
To enable universities absorb the increased number of students from the SHS this year, the Ministry of Education was making arrangement for a special funding to address the capacity challenges.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced this when he met a delegation of chiefs from Bonaboto in the Upper East Region at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.
“The ministry is currently negotiating a special funding under the GETfund to deal with the infrastructural matters in all the tertiary universities in the country,†he said
The President pointed out that the infrastructural capacity of the polytechnics that had been converted into technical universities would be enhanced to enable them increase their intake as well.
“The special funding is almost complete and it is intended to address the capacity issues in the various universities,†he said.
Touching on plans to construct the multipurpose Pwalugu Dam in the region, the President said the government had made plans to complete the dam.
When completed, he said the Pwalugu Dam would be the single biggest investment of public money in any part of the northern part of the country since independence six decades ago.
He explained that the outbreak of the COVID-19 has slowed down the project because the financing of the project involved having relations and engagements with China and the Synohydro Corporation.
That, notwithstanding, he said the process of constructing the dam will soon resume, adding that the Ministry of Finance was currently processing guarantees for funding from the development partners.
“Concrete steps are being taken to bring the project into being,†President Akufo-Addo said.
The President further announced plans by the government to convert the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital into a Teaching Hospital for the training of doctors.
The Tong-Raana Kugbilsong Nalebtang Robert Mosore, Paramount Chief of Talensi Traditional Area, who led the delegation, commended the President for his proactive leadership.
“Leaders have fallen short in protecting their citizens in the wake of the COVID-19. Your proactive leadership has saved the lives of Ghanaians and you really deserve commendation,†he said.
He expressed gratitude to the President for the development projects in the Bonaboto area over the past three years including the US$1 billion Pwalugu Dam, support to farmers through the Planting for Food and Jobs, among others.
BasicNeeds-Ghana, a Non-governmental Organisation based in Tamale has supported 150 persons stabilized from mental illness or epilepsy in the Savelugu Municipality to venture into vegetable production as part of its vegetable gardening project.
This is to enable the beneficiaries become productive in their community and society as well as enhance their well-being.
The beneficiaries were drawn from six communities including; Zaazi, Bihinaayili, Nyoglo, Dinga, Sug-Tampia and Libga.
They cultivate vegetables including; okro, kenaf, ‘alefu’ and ‘Ayoyo’.
Mr Stanislaus Azuure Sandow, the Project Officer at BasicNeeds-Ghana gave the details in an interview with journalists during a field trip to one of the project sites in Zaazi, a community in the Savelugu Municipality.
The project, funded by the UNDP Adaptation Fund, is dubbed “BasicNeeds-Ghana Promoting Gardening for Improved Mental Health Outcomes and Productivity in Northern Ghana projectâ€.
The project, seeks to provide good gardening practices to mental health service users to help increase their nutrition and income earning capacities through dry season gardening.
The beneficiaries were resourced with vegetable seeds, water pumping machines, garden tools and equipment to enable them become productive in society.
Mr Sandow said the One-year community based alternative likelihood project, which would end in May this year, had resourced a total of 150 primary beneficiaries made up of women, men, and youth with mental illness or epilepsy and their care givers.
He said the beneficiaries were supervised by the organization’s Volunteer Gardeners on daily basis, who equipped them on the required vegetable gardening knowledge, skills and competencies to enhance productivity and good yield.
He said the intervention was to create public awareness that people with mental illness could be productive to society.
Later in an interview with some of the beneficiaries, Madam Hannah Abdulai, a 25 year old woman with epilepsy, said the intervention from BasicNeeds-Ghana and its funding partners had empowered and given her hope to support her family.
“At first, I was finding it difficult to support my husband, like giving my child money to go to school, but with the support from BasicNeeds-Ghana, I get about GHC 50 every two weeks from selling my vegetables from the garden to support my child to go to school ” she said.
Mr Adam Abdullai, a caregiver to his 10 year old son who is epileptic, said before the project, they had challenges with getting the vegetable seedlings, difficulty in drawing water for irrigation as well as preventing animals from grazing on their vegetables, but through the project they curbed these challenges.
He lauded the project, saying it had helped to improve on his family’s living conditions including; feeding and buying medicines to cater for his child’s welfare, and urged BasicNeeds-Ghana to do more to help others in similar conditions.
The implementation of the Free Senior High School flagship programme introduced by the Akufo-Addo-led government has tremendously increased enrollment in schools in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region, Ghanaweb’s Daniel Kaku reports.
Before the start of the Free SHS programme, the total enrolment in the schools in Ellembelle District was 2,482 thus 2016/2017 academic year but with the introduction of the Free SHS programme in 2017/2018, the figure has increased.
The 2017/2018 academic year enrolment was 4,200 students.
In 2018/2019 academic year, the enrolment also increased to 4,503 students and in 2019/2020 academic year, it was increased from 4,503 to 5,587 students.
The policy has made it possible for so many students who come from the less privileged homes to further their secondary education and it had reduced the school dropout situation in Ellembelle District.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ellembelle, Mr. Kwasi Bonzoh who exclusively disclosed this to GhanaWeb at Bonzo Kaku Senior High School after the March-past of the 63rd Independence Day Anniversary Celebration lauded President Akufo-Addo for the introduction of the programme.
He stated that the policy had tremendously taken off huge burden from parents in the area of payment of school fees, provision of school uniforms, textbooks, boarding fees among others in the District.
“The policy has also made it possible for every Junior High School graduate to have access to secondary education. This has tremendously increased enrolment throughout the country”, he said.
The DCE told GhanaWeb that, “analyzing these figures implies that the introduction of Free SHS made the enrolment figures to double in the 2017/18 academic year. It also implies that almost half of the students would not have been able to have access to SHS education without the Free SHS Programme”.
He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to support government to consolidate the policy no matter the party any Ghanaian belongs to and also said all hands should be on deck to help government improve the flagship programme.
“…It is therefore incumbent on every Ghana to support Government to consolidate this policy no matter the political party we belong to. All hands should be on deck to support Government not only to continue but to improve on the Free SHS programme. I know for sure that all the children gathered here would want to attend Free SHS and we should endeavour to make them enjoy it when their time comes”, he emphasized.
Mr. Kwasi Bonzoh seized the opportunity to reveal that government was providing the necessary infrastructure to eliminate the Double Track System at the Nkroful Agricultural Senior High School, the only school in Ellembelle District implementing the system.
He said currently government has finished building a 12-unit classroom block for the school which is expected to be commissioned very soon.
He added the government was constructing a dormitory for the boys which is also expected to be completed very soon. He was optimistic that the government would abolish the Double Track System at the Nkroful Agricultural Senior High School before the start of the 2020/2021 academic year.
A total of 25 Basic and Second Cycle Schools took part in the March past at Bonzo Kaku Senior High School park to commemorate the 63rd Independence Day Anniversary Celebration.
Rev. Armah Memorial D/A Primary School of Basake emerged first in the March past in the primary category.
Awiebo Methodist Primary School became second and Akpandue SDA Primary School became third in the primary school category.
On the other hand, Agyalukronzu Junior High School of Basake scooped the first position in the JHS category.
Awiebo Methodist Junior High School won the second position and Awiebo-Basake D/A Junior High School became third.
Nkroful Agriculture Senior High School police cadet emerged first in the second cycle cadet display followed by Bonzo Kaku Senior High School and St. Theresah’s Vocational Training Institute.
Bonzo Kaku Senior High School became the only Senior High School in Ellembelle to take part in the second cycle March past and they were adjudged the winners.
Brainner Cobbinah Allan who completed Esisma Christ Leading International School last year was adjudged the best female 2019 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidate.
She received a cash prize (undisclosed amount) with a certificate of achievement.
Ersson Benjamin Sekyi who also completed Wisdom Academy of Sanzule last year was also adjudged the best 2019 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidate. He also took the same prize with a certificate of achievement. He is currently schooling at Nsien SHS.
Nkroful Agriculture Senior High School also received a certificate with cash prize for winning the 2020 Ellembelle District 63rd Independence Day Quiz Competition.
The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Hon. Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley, MP, has hailed the impact of access to free secondary education on his life.
Responding to a toast on Friday, 6th March, 2020, at the Manyhia Palace, after the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, held a dinner in his honour, Prime Minister Rowley revealed that he came from a family of 6 boys, he being the last of the boys.
“Five boys never went to High School. My sister and I went to High school because, Dr. Eric Williams (1st Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago), a name that you are familiar with, did what your President (Akufo-Addo) has just done, in 1962,†he said.
The Trinidadian Prime Minister continued, “He (Dr. Williams) brought Free Secondary Education to us, and that singular opportunity produced from this family, a Prime Minister, the first person in the family to go to High School, and my sister, the second person (to go to High School), she became an administrator in public service.â€
He, therefore, congratulated Ghana “for joining us in Trinidad and Tobago in contributing to this vision of what we can be, once the opportunities are thereâ€.
Free SHS
According to data from the Ghana Statistical Service, 60 years after independence, only 15 per cent of all Ghanaians aged 15 or older had reached secondary education or higher.
The statistics further indicated that 19.5 per cent of Ghanaians had never attended school. These statistics proved to be a barrier to achieving sustainable and inclusive development.
By implementing the Free SHS policy, access to a minimum of senior high school education for all school-going children has been improved in all parts of the country. Enrolment at the secondary level increased significantly by 43 per cent between 2016 and 2018.
At the end of the 2018/19 academic year, total beneficiaries for the first two cohorts was 794,899 students, with 1.2 million children currently benefitting from the policy. This is the highest ever number of students concurrently enrolled in the public secondary education system in Ghana.
To accommodate the increased enrolment, and ensure that no child is left behind, the Government temporarily introduced the double-track system.
In anticipation of increased enrolment, and the need to phase out the double-track system, Government commenced the construction of 962 structures in secondary schools across the country, comprising classroom blocks, dormitories and sanitary facilities.
The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley, MP, has hailed the impact of access to free secondary education on his life.
Responding to a toast on Friday, 6th March, 2020, at the Manyhia Palace, after the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, held a dinner in his honour, Prime Minister Rowley revealed that he came from a family of six boys, he being the last of the boys.
“Five boys never went to High School. My sister and I went to High school because, Dr. Eric Williams (1st Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago), a name that you are familiar with, did what your President (Akufo-Addo) has just done, in 1962,†he said.
The Trinidadian Prime Minister continued, “He (Dr. Williams) brought Free Secondary Education to us, and that singular opportunity produced from this family, a Prime Minister, the first person in the family to go to High School, and my sister, the second person (to go to High School), she became an administrator in public service.â€
He, therefore, congratulated Ghana “for joining us in Trinidad and Tobago in contributing to this vision of what we can be, once the opportunities are thereâ€.
Free SHS
According to data from the Ghana Statistical Service, 60 years after independence, only 15 percent of all Ghanaians aged 15 or older had reached secondary education or higher.
The statistics further indicated that 19.5 percent of Ghanaians had never attended school. These statistics proved to be a barrier to achieving sustainable and inclusive development.
By implementing the Free SHS policy, access to a minimum of senior high school education for all school going children has been improved in all parts of the country. Enrolment at the secondary level increased significantly by 43 percent between 2016 and 2018.
At the end of the 2018/19 academic year, total beneficiaries for the first two cohorts was 794,899 students, with 1.2 million children currently benefitting from the policy. This is the highest ever number of students concurrently enrolled in the public secondary education system in Ghana.
To accommodate the increased enrolment, and ensure that no child is left behind, Government temporarily introduced the double track system.
In anticipation of increased enrolment, and the need to phase out the double track system, Government commenced the construction of 962 structures in secondary schools across the country, comprising classroom blocks, dormitories and sanitary facilities.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District in the Savannah Region, Hon Lawal Tamimu has hailed the Nana Addo led government for putting in place the right policy initiatives that have improved the economic fortunes for the country.
According to him, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has reduced the burden of Ghanaians as a result of the introduction of some policy interventions including the free senior high school initiative.
The DCE in his 63rd Independence Anniversary speech revealed that the implementation of the Free Senior High School programme has provided a lot of teenagers access to Senior High School education.
He further added that the policy initiative has also helped parents save significant sums of monies to cater for other responsibilities other than taking care of school-related expenditures for their wards in day and boarding schools.
The DCE added that under the 1 village 1 Dam policy, ten dams have been completed and therefore appealed to the youth to take advantage of the policy to venture into dry season farming which will bring more income and help their lives and that of their families.
Mr Tamimu, added that over four thousand farmers in the District benefited from government-subsidized inputs which has boost the production of farmers in the District last year.
Madam Zato Margaret, the District Director of education also speaking at the ceremony indicated that the performance of BECE in the District has witnessed improvement from 51.95% in 2018 to 59% in 2019 which she attributes to the effective classes that teachers in the District normally organise for BECE candidates.
Madam Margaret mentioned high school drop out especially among the girl- children, early marriages,lack of furniture, lack of teachers and lateness of some teachers to school as some of the challenges facing the education unit in the District.
A representative of the Member of Parliament for the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba Constituency (Hon Chiwiitey Andrew), Mr Maalyong Thomas told the gathering that the MP is committed to solving the challenges in the constituency in all sectors.
He said in a quest to improve the standard of education in the area, the MP normally award the best two preformed students in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
Master Abubakari Afatuferu who completed Kulmasa R/C Junior High school topped the male category with aggregate 10 and is currently reading Science at Prempeh College received one thousand Ghana cedis and his alma matter (Kulmasa JHS) will benefit from a furnished computer laboratory.
In the female category Adams Rafiatu formally of Sawla Girls model with aggregate 12 and reading Science at Ola Girls also received one thousand Ghana cedis from the MP and her former school will get a well-stocked Information an Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) laboratory.
According to Mr Thomas, the MP award is to serve as an incentive to motivate students to take their academic works seriously.
Government spends GH¢2 billion annually on the Free SHS programme, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has said.
“This underscores the importance government attaches to education which is the key to development without which no country can prosper,†he added.
“We are spending a lot; currently about two billion cedis every year on free senior high school alone. We believe it is money worth spending because the President has said there is no alternative than to invest in education,†he pointed out.
He was speaking to teachers and students of the Presbyterian Model Cluster of Schools at Suhum in the Eastern Region.
He made the remarks when addressing students and teachers as guest of honour at the centenary celebration of Suhum Presbyterian Model Cluster of Schools.
President Akufo-Addo since assuming office, he said, had placed emphasis on education as evidenced from the investments being made in that sector.
Speaking at the event, he said hundred years of any institution is worth celebrating, adding that the Cluster of Schools having lasted this long gives credence to its strong foundation as laid down by its founding fathers.
He expressed gratitude to the founders of the school, particularly the Presbyterian Church, for their great vision and seeing it throughout the hundred years of its existence.
He entreated staff of the school to keep working hard after achieving such great feat. He advised the students to study hard and be disciplined.
The Vice-President expressed the hope that the successes chalked up would be sustained for future generations.
The Chief of Suhum, Osaberima Ayeh Kofi, on his part, entreated government to totally decentralize education.
He pleaded with the government to delegate powers to traditional rulers to play major roles in ensuring a better education system in the country.
Government spends GH¢2 billion annually on the Free SHS programme, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has said.
“This underscores the importance government attaches to education which is the key to development without which no country can prosper,†he added.
“We are spending a lot; currently about two billion cedis every year on free senior high school alone. We believe it is money worth spending because the President has said there is no alternative than to invest in education,†he pointed out.
He was speaking to teachers and students of the Presbyterian Model Cluster of Schools at Suhum in the Eastern Region.
He made the remarks when addressing students and teachers as guest of honour at the centenary celebration of Suhum Presbyterian Model Cluster of Schools.
President Akufo-Addo since assuming office, he said, had placed emphasis on education as evidenced from the investments being made in that sector.
Speaking at the event, he said hundred years of any institution is worth celebrating, adding that the Cluster of Schools having lasted this long gives credence to its strong foundation as laid down by its founding fathers.
He expressed gratitude to the founders of the school, particularly the Presbyterian Church, for their great vision and seeing it throughout the hundred years of its existence.
He entreated staff of the school to keep working hard after achieving such great feat. He advised the students to study hard and be disciplined.
The Vice-President expressed the hope that the successes chalked up would be sustained for future generations.
The Chief of Suhum, Osaberima Ayeh Kofi, on his part, entreated government to totally decentralize education.
He pleaded with the government to delegate powers to traditional rulers to play major roles in ensuring a better education system in the country.
First-year Home Economics students of the Ningo Senior High Technical School at Ningo in the Greater Accra Region have to sit on the floor for classes due to lack of desks.
The students, who number over 40, sit on the bare floor for lessons as the classroom has less than 10 desks.
Confirming the state of the school on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Monday, 17 February 2020, two old students indicated that the Form 1 Home Economics Classroom is among three other classrooms with less than 10 desks.
Meanwhile, the headmaster of the school and the District Director of Education have been summoned to a meeting by the District Chief Executive of the area, Jonathan Teye-Doku, over the matter.
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has observed that despite the gains recorded in the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy, some challenges remain outstanding.
The independent statutory body – which is mandated to promote transparency and accountability in the management of petroleum revenues in Ghana – released its 2020 report Tuesday on the “2018-2019 Free SHS monitoring†where it made its observations on the policy known.
Some positive observations
According to PIAC, the Free SHS policy has resulted in a timelier reporting of students to school, compared to the period preceding Free SHS.
“Students no longer have to wait for school fees to be provided them before reporting to school,†PIAC observed.
On the supply of textbooks for Core Subjects, PIAC said they were provided in adequate quantities, albeit late in some instances.
The Free SHS programme has also led to increased enrollment in 41 percent of the schools PIAC visited, the report said, wrote adding that the enrollment of girls, in particular, has increased.
Concerns
On the quality and timeliness of supplies, PIAC observed that “poor quality and unwholesomeness of some supplies, delays in supply of food and other items, and under or oversupply of some food items and provisions were pretty widespread.â€
“The abolition of cut-off grades in the admission of students has led to a situation of dumping of poor-grade students in schools, particularly deprived schools,†the report said.
One of the major concerns PIAC observed textbooks for elective subjects were not covered by the policy.
“However, this has not been clearly communicated to parents by government, leading to a situation where some parents are refusing to take responsibility for the purchase of these textbooks for their wards. This situation is negatively impacting on the quality of teaching and learning in the schools,†they wrote.
Recommendations
Among its recommendations, the anti-graft body encouraged “vigilance on the part of school authorities in monitoring the quality of supplies, such as inspecting the expiry dates among others.â€
This, they said “will prevent the suppliers from using the schools as dumping grounds.â€
“In order to avoid the recurrence of over and undersupply of food items, the supply of food items by the Buffer Stock Company should be based on orders from the schools,†PIAC added.
They also recommended that government ensures “disbursements to the schools are done expeditiously as the non-free SHS students phase out, to avoid closure of the schools and disruptions to the academic calendar.â€
In improving quality of SHS students PIAC said “the Ghana Education Service should pay more attention to the basic schools to improve the quality of students for the second cycle schools.â€
Refer to the document below for the full findings and recommendations of PIAC
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has described the government’s flagship Frèe SHS program as the biggest social intervention initiative by any government in Ghana since Independence.
Speaking at the Government’s Town Hall Meeting in Kumasi to lay bare achievements of the Nana Akufo-Addo government in three years, Dr. Bawumia revealed that due to the success of the policy, SHS enrollment has tremendously increased by 69% i three years, leading to about 1.2m students benefiting from Free SHS .
“The free SHS has resulted in a 69% increase in enrollment. Today, 1.2 million children are benefiting from free SHS,” Dr. Bawumia said.
The Vice President said that providing access to secondary education to every Ghanaian child was an important concern to President Akufo-Addo and the government because developing human capital is crucial to the development of a nation, hence the government’s commitment to deliver on the Free SHS promise despite the initial challenges.
“The empirical evidence is very persuasive that the key to economic transformation is human capital, not natural resources. This is why President Akufo-Addo has placed an emphasis of making sure that every Ghanaian child, regardless of the financial circumstances of their parent will have access to free senior high school education,” said the Vice President
“This was a promise we made prior to the election in 2016 and one that we have fulfilled. It is the most significant social intervention introduced in Ghana since independence. We are investing and building capacity for the future of this country.”
Dr. Bawumia said the government had initial challenges in rolling out the Free SHS due to insufficient facilities in some schools to accommodate increment in enrollment. Bent on not denying any Ghanaian child access to Free SHS education, Dr. Bawumia said, the government had to be innovative by establishing the double track system in the interim to ensure access for all, while taking steps to build more facilities.
“We had a big challenge however. We did not have sufficient infrastructure in most schools to accommodate the increased numbers. Today, 1.2 million people are benefiting from Free SHS. The question we faced was “Whose Child Should be left at home?†In response to this challenge we introduced the double track system as a temporary solution to the problem while we construct new school infrastructure.”
“The thinking here is akin to how churches have first, second and even third services to deal with large numbers.”
” There are people who say that we should have finished building the schools before introducing free SHS but I would say that it is better to educate a child even under a tree than to have them sitting at home. With that same logic we would have had to finish building all the hospitals we need before introducing the NHIS.”
The opposition NDC has been vehement in its criticism of the double track system, but the Vice President said the NDC has not provided any alternative to double track, maintaining that without the double track system, hundreds of thousands of students who now have access to free secondary education would have been sitting at home.
“The fact is that without the double track system, hundreds of thousands of students would not be able to access free SHS.”
“Those who are criticizing the double track system have not been able to offer an alternative. Abolishing the double track system means abolishing free SHS as we know it. Whose child should stay at home?”
“This is why government is investing in the construction of new infrastructure at senior high schools across the country and some schools are no longer on the double track. . The double track system will therefore be over in just a few years for all schools when the infrastructure is completed.”
“Interestingly the Government of Kenya, facing similar challenges, has asked our Ministry of education to assist them to introduce the double track system in Kenya.”
Dr. Bawumia added that the best government to kove the Free SHS to the next level should be the President and the government which believed in it and implemented it, not a party which criticized the policy and was pessimistic about its success.
“We need a government that is committed to the free SHS system. A government that is prepared to commit the resources to finance it,” Dr. Bawumia said, obviously referring to President Akufo-Addo and the NPP.
“Can we entrust the Free SHS policy to someone who did not believe in it
in the first place? To someone who said it was a gimmick? To someone who said if he had GHC2 billion he would not spend it on Free SHS? To someone who says he would abolish double track but has no alternative to offer?”
The Savannah Regional Minister, Salifu Adam Braimah, has presented 152 mattresses to the Buipe Senior High School (SHS) in the Central Gonja district after the girls dormitory got burnt.
Fire burnt the girls dormitory block of the Buipe Senior High School destroying books, clothes, mattresses and other properties.
The fire disaster resulted in the collapse of two students who were later rushed to the Buipe hospital for treatment.
Students and residents were able to put the fire under control before the Ghana Fire Service arrived by then the dormitory block was burnt into ashes.
The Buipe fire tender has been faulty for over a year which has been a worry to residents in the area.
According to the minister, government is committed in the welfare of students and for that matter he would ensure that students will be assisted with their lost educational materials to enhance learning in the school.
He encouraged the affected students not to lose hope but stay focused in their academics especially the final year students.
The Headmistress of the Buipe Senior High School, madam Mercy Ewuntomah, thanked the Savannah Regional Minister and the Free Senior High School Secretariat for the support.
According to her, the Free Senior High School secretariat has assured the school that the affected students will be presented with school uniforms, books and house dresses to replace the burnt ones.
She, however, revealed that the school’s ICT block has been converted as a dormitory for the affected students and appealed to well-wishers, individuals and organizations to come to their aid.
“we want to convert 6 classrooms blocks for them to use as a temporary dormitoryâ€. She said
Meanwhile, a committee has been set up to investigate the actual cause of the fire in the school.
The Founder and Resident Pastor of Grace Community Church in Kumasi, Bishop Isaac Kankam Boadu has called on Ghanaians especially parents to thank God for President Akufo-Addo’s initiative of Free Senior High School (SHS).
According to Bishop Kankam Boadu, “if the Free SHS initiative has enabled your child to be in secondary school, then thank God.”
He made this known when was leading the congregation during a Thanksgiving Service for the last Sunday of the year.
“I am not a politician but let’s face the reality, the Free SHS has enabled some people who couldn’t have send their children to SHS gotten free access, why don’t you thank God” he added.
He said even men get offended when people refuse to appreciate their benevolence of how much God provides and protects us always.
He added that “We don’t have nothing to give to God but just to thank him for all that He has done for us through out the year”.
Bishop Kankam Boadu called on the congregation to dance to Diana Antwi Hamilton’s ‘Mo ne yo’ as well as other thanksgiving songs to express their appreciation to God.
He preached on “Let the redeem of the lord say so” from the book of Psalm 107:2 and allowed the congregants to express their appreciation through testifying about things God did for each person through out the year.
The Minority in Parliament has questioned President Akufo-Addo’s contribution to the country’s infrastructure sector since he assumed office in 2017.
According to them, the contribution of former President John Dramani Mahama on infrastructure will be remembered by Ghanaians to vote him into power coming December 7 2020.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament today, the Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu Consistuency John Abdulai Jinapor compared Mahama’s contribution to infrastructure to Akufo-Addo’s questioning the tendency of Akufo-Addo winning the 2020 elections
”This is a government that has decided that spending on infrastructure, roads is not a priority to them. Theirs is to spend on consumption. Today, Fmr President Mahama can boast of hospitals, international airports, interchanges, roads. What will Akufo-Addo be remembered for in relation to the coming elections. What will the people consider to vote for him, the only thing he will be remembered and left for us is free shs and double track.”
He also said that it takes a dedicated and committed party to boost the Agricultural Sector in the country
”In Agriculture, Akufo-Addo’s government have launched planting for food and jobs and other slogans. If you look at the Agric sector based on the Minister’s assertion it is dropping from 4.6 to 2.2. Managing the Agric sector, its not about Ghanarism, its about a dedicated and committed party to do that”.
”On this note, the Akufo-Addo government must leave office immediately because we will vote them out for them to know that the people of Ghana are tired”, he added.
However, the Finance Minister presenting the budget last week indicated that the Planting for Food and Jobs has saved farmers a total of 844 million cedis over the last three years for subsidized fertilizer and a total of 357 million cedis have been put in the pockets of teacher trainees within the last three years in the form of allowances.
Again, the Finance Minister, comparing Akufo Addo’s achievement to the previous Mahama administration, said the current government has done more in three years than its predecessor.
The existence of a definitive academic calendar is a basic pre-requisite for an efficient education system. Though students are halfway into the first semester, calendar for the second term remains uncertain, Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare has said.
These erratic changes in the double-track academic calendar have made it difficult for headteachers, teachers, students, and parents to plan ahead and also cater for their responsibilities respectively.
It would be recalled that there has been inconsistency in the reopening dates of students enjoying Free SHS lately. It has also been reported that both first and second year gold track students will now report to school for the first semester of the 2019/2020 academic year on Friday, November 15, 2019.
Recounting the number of inconsistencies in the sector, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch stressed that “on the 14th of October, 2019, just a day before vacation for Form 2 Track Green students, the GES suddenly announced a one-month postponement of their vacation from October 15 to November 12, 2019. November 8, 2019 the GES again announced a change in the reporting date for Track Gold Form 1 student from November 12, 2019, to 16th and November 17th, 2019. This means that both Form 1 and Form 2 students on Track Gold will for the first and second time respectively, have to delay their reporting schedule.â€
The Minority in Parliament has alleged that the double-track system being implemented by the Education Ministry has caused a lot of teenage pregnancies among female students nationwide.
According to the Minority, over 1400 female students have been impregnated since the double-track system was implemented in September 2018.
The NDC MPs are demanding measures to immediately phase out the double-track system which is not inuring to the benefit of the students.
Addressing the media in Parliament, minority spokesperson on education Peter Nortsu also questioned the quality of food being fed beneficiaries and unavailability of textbooks for students.
“There are teenage pregnancies being recorded in some senior high schools, within a space of one year alone, that is the last academic year alone 2018/2019, over 1433 girls at senior high schools across the country were impregnated and dropped out of schools.
“The long and frequent semester breaks are the major causes of teenage pregnancies; students spend eight weeks at school and the same length of time at home. The double-track system…is not helping in the delivery of quality education in our senior high schools, students are made to go on long vacations after spending a few days in school, and sometimes the reopening date for one track is postponed to the disadvantage of parents.â€
The Ghana Education Service (GES) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) to employ 7,730 young people as non-teaching staff in selected senior high schools (SHSs).
The scheme, known as the Schools Support Programme, is to replace ageing cooks, pantry hands, labourers, security assistants and other non-teaching staff of SHSs to help boost the free SHS programme.
The employees will be engaged for two years in the initial stage, after which, based on available permanent job opportunities and performance, some will be absorbed permanently into the GES.
Those engaged will be paid GH¢350 a month, to be funded from the five per cent Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) allocation to the YEA.
The Director-General of the GES, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, signed the MoU on behalf of the service, while the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the YEA, Mr Justice Kodua Frimpong, signed on behalf of the agency.
Prof. Opoku-Amankwa explained that after the contract period, the employees could be engaged permanently based on their performance and the job opportunities available.
He said media advertisements for the recruitment exercise would be ready by Thursday and encouraged young people between 18 and 35 years who had completed at least junior high school to take advantage of the programme.
“The onset of the free SHS increased demand for both teaching and non-teaching staff to facilitate the effective implementation of the policy,†he said.
Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said the GES had already employed 1,500 non-teaching staff and 8,000 teachers, but with the introduction of the double-track system, there was more demand for non-teaching staff.
He described the initiative as a school-based support programme aimed at ensuring the health and safety of the students and staff of the various SHSs in the country.
The government has released GH¢88,056,438 for disbursement to all public senior high schools (SHSs) for the implementation of the free SHS programme for the 2019/2020 academic.
The amount will, however, cover only second-year students for the first semester.
The Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, who made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday, said already GH?61,669,394 had been released for the upkeep of third-year students for the first semester of the 2019/2020 academic year.
The third-year students have been in school since August 25, 2019 to enable them to prepare adequately for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Prof. Opoku-Amankwa explained that the allocation for first-year students was available and would be released after the placement exercise was over to enable the GES management to determine how many students had been enrolled in the various schools.
Supply of uniforms
On supplies, he said the schools would continue to supply uniforms to first-year students, adding that each student would be entitled to two school uniforms.
“With regard to school cloths, schools will continue to supply all students. The government, through the Ministry of Education, has entered into an arrangement with Akosombo Textiles Ltd (ATL) to supply the materials for the school cloths to dressmakers of the schools,†Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said.
Textbooks
He said adequate textbooks had been made available to all the schools for use by all students and asked schools that did not have adequate supply of textbooks on the four core subjects to immediately draw the attention of their respective regional and district directors to that.
On feeding, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa explained that the principles underlying the concept of food supply by the National Food Buffer Stock Company Ltd (NAFCO) remained the same.
Speaking on the supply of food items to schools, the Public Affairs Manager of NAFCO, Mr Emmanuel J.K. Arthur, said: “We have no problem with the supply of food to the schools under the free SHS programme.â€
He said NAFCO had made sure that food was in the schools, adding that there was nothing to be worried about.
“Even though we do not know the actual number of first-year students, we have made arrangements to ensure that there is enough food for them and the continuing students,†Mr Arthur stated.
Management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has temporarily suspended the self-placement module under the Computerized School Selection and Placement Scheme( CSSPS).
This option enables qualified candidates of the Basic Education Certificate Examination ( BECE) who have not been placed in their chosen Senior High School( SHS) to choose a school for themselves by logging onto a given website.
But in a letter signed by Cassandra Twum Ampofo on Wednesday and sighted by MyNewsGh.com, stated that it has suspended the module in order to update the schools and programs available for candidates. The letter adds that the module will be available later today Thursday, 12th September 2019.
Many candidates and parents had complained above challenges in accessing and using the module since the GES released placements earlier this week.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has come out to clarify an attribution to the Commissioner-General by a section of the media on whether beneficiaries of the Free SHS policy will pay more taxes than non-benficiaries in future.
In a statement issued and signed by Kwasi Bobie-Ansah, Assistant Commissioner, Communication & Public Affairs Department, the GRA said the attribution arose from the reportage of remarks given by the Commissioner-General at a capacity building workshop for members of the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) over the weekend in Koforidua.
“What the Commissioner-General said was that the Free SHS policy is an investment government is making into the lives of the beneficiaries today. The result/impact would, however, be felt in the long run. Due to the various skills acquired by the many beneficiares, when they enter the job market and begin paying taxes, collectively, they would contribute more taxes to national coffers.
“GRA is very much aware of the principle of equity in taxation and, therefore, would not use different rates for taxpayers on the same income on the basis of benefitting from the Free SHS policy,â€it stated.
“The Commissioner-General never said that Free SHS benefiaciries would pay more taxes than non-beneficaries in the future. The Commissioner-General explained that by virtue of the fact that he benefited from a Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) scholarship as a student, he is able to pay so much tax today. It is his expectation that due to the investment the Free SHS policy is making in the benefiacies, they will be in a similar position to pay the required taxes in the future,†the statement added.
