Free SHS Policy Not Sustainable – Bagbin

The Second Deputy Speaker in Parliament and Member for Nadowli West Constituency, Hon. Alban Sumani Bagbin, has expressed doubts about the sustainability of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy of the Akufo-Addo government.

Even though he is not against the policy, the MP said he disagreed with the approach being pursued by the handlers, and hailed the Finance Minister, Kennedy Ofori-Atta, for advocating a second look at the implementation.

“The Minister of finance is just being realistic; he is being candid and I think that my friends in his government should take that as an advice and, maybe, re-look at the policy.”

It is recalled that, the Finance Minister, in an interview recently, called for the ‘discrimination’ in the free SHS policy, and suggested that those who had the means should pay for their wards’ fees.

Then a few days later, in an attempt to curb the current overcrowding in the second-cycle institutions across the country, the government announced the introduction of a double-track system, slated to begin in September, but Mr. Bagbin believed the whole idea of free SHS was being rushed.

He suggested that, basic infrastructure and other necessities should have been put in place, before implementing the policy.

“It just came out of him (Mr. Ken Ofori Atta) that, look, we can’t sustain it if we go that way; why not just look at those who can’t pay and allow those who can pay to pay?” The second Deputy Minister stated.

President Akufo-Addo, before his election to power in 2016, promised to make second-cycle education free, but the policy, apart from being a huge financial burden on government, is facing overcrowding problems across the country, leading to the implementation of the double-track system.

By: Pamela Adoley Allotey