NDC would destroy free SHS – Education Minister

Minister for Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, (aka Napo) has said the Free Senior High School (FREE SHS) policy introduced by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) led government would not be sustained and continued by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and therefore the party’s candidate should not be voted for by any well-meaning Ghanaian who has education at heart.

Though the NDC, as a party, has consistently promised it would continue but review the FREE SHS policy if the party wins the December polls election, the Education Minister said the same John Mahama-led NDC has never believed in the policy and indeed several top NDC capos some of who even served as Ministers under the NDC have publicly campaigned against the policy.

“This is not the time to gamble with the education of our children or play politics with it. It is not a matter of saying I am NDC or I am NPP. It is a simply choice between a party that has introduced a policy and is implementing it, and another party that campaigned against the same policy, that did not believe in the policy but is now saying it is in a better position to implement the same policy it campaigned against and said cannot be possible. It is a matter of facing reality and voting for a party that would save the education of the several hundreds of thousands of Ghanaian youth who would have been school dropouts if the NPP had not introduced FREE SHS”, the Education Minister told THE NEW PUBLISHER

Dr. Opoku Prempeh recounted former President Mahama and the NDC continually lambasted President Nana Akufo-Addo for conceiving the free SHS policy idea, reiterating that the NDC would destroy the free SHS policy.
“Former President John Mahama is a threat to the free SHS programme so we should never make a mistake by voting for him and his party during the upcoming December 7 presidential and presidential polls. Mr. Mahama, from onset, persistently kicked against the FREE SHS programme by saying that the policy could only be possible in 20 years’ time”, he said.

The Education Minister said the NPP has not only made Secondary School education completely free for all but has also ensured that teachers are given the requisite training and work environment to maximize their potentials.

He said “there is no doubt that the teacher under this NPP government is a better teacher, one who is well trained, highly qualified and professional, highly motivated and conscious of the role they play in the attainment of better learning outcomes….

“A few days ago I spoke at the Nation Building Updates on putting the Ghanaian teacher first in ensuring quality education. I explained teacher allowances, teacher promotion, responsibility allowances and the improved teacher recruitment system being deployed at the Ghana Education Service (GES).

“By the end of 2020, GES would have recruited 93,724 teaching and non-teaching staff. For the first time, government is paying an annual GH¢1, 200 as professional allowance and GH¢800 to nonprofessionals annually to support their in-service career development.

“It is my prayer that on the 7th of December, Ghanaians vote for the Number One on the ballot paper, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to ensure that the future of the nation is secured,” Napo added

According to him, the FREE SHS is a suitable social intervention programme that has the potential of improving the country’s human resource base so it should be jealousy protected by every Ghanaian.

In his regard, Napo stated that “the first step to protect the free SHS policy is to vote massively to retain President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House on December 7”, warning that the NDC would collapse the policy.
The Manhyia South Lawmaker also said the massive gains chalked by the NPP government in all the sectors of the state since President Akufo-Addo attained power would be wiped away “if the incompetent Mahama becomes president again”.