I Will Prefer My Child Studying On Floor…Rather Than Selling Dog Chains

THE MINISTER of Education, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, has vehemently debunked claims that the free Senior High School (SHS) policy was introduced in a rush.

According to him, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, implemented the policy at the right time.

Nicknamed ‘Napo’, Dr. Prempeh said but for the introduction of the free SHS policy, more youth would have been turned into criminals by now. He therefore described the policy as a salvation for the future of thousands of Ghanaian youth.

Free SHS Attacks

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has continually lambasted the NPP administration for introducing the free SHS policy at the wrong time.

They argued that the NPP did not consider the infrastructural capacity of the schools in the country before introducing the programme.

Minister’s Response

But Napo observed that the rate at which students were dropping out from school, notably at the SHS level, due to poverty was unacceptable.

According to him, most of the vulnerable youth were turning into hardened armed robbers and prostitutes after they had dropped out from school.

The Minister said President Akufo-Addo, who cares about the future of Ghana’s youth, therefore decided to introduce the police to save the youth.

He condemned those saying that the policy was rushed by government, who thus compelled students to study on bare floors.

“I will prefer to see my child studying on bare floor than to see him/her selling dog chains in the streets, which clearly puts his life and future in great danger”.

Napo said the alarming rate at which students were dropping out from school was rapidly getting out of hand and stressed that the free SHS came at the right time.

By: Kwadwo Essel/ thePublisher