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The Free Senior High School (SHS) policy promised by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, would be taking care of Teacher motivation fee, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Education has said.

The Teacher Motivation fee as captured by the implementation strategy would see the Ministry pay GHC 20 for every child as part of the many payments that would be absorbed in the scholarship programme.

Dr Opoku Prempeh made this known on Thursday at the first meet the press series organised by the Ministry of Information to bring to the notice of the public through the media, the topical issues from all ministries.

The Teacher motivation fee was part of the recurrent fee items to be absorbed by the programme, which also had the Information Communication Technology and utilities pegged at GHC3 and GHC13 for each student.

According to Dr Opoku Prempeh noted that the programme would absorb the payment for those in the public SHS.
The payment for the implementation from September, includes recurrent fee items, one-time fee items for only first year students, teaching and learning support for only Technical and Vocational Education and Training students, and feeding fees- amounting to GHC 648.47 for day students and GHC1,002.67 for boarders.

He said under free SHS, the government would absorb all fees approved by Ghana Education Service Council for first year students, other than Parent Teacher Association (PTA) dues.

The Minister cautioned that no school authority should dismiss any student due to the inability to make payment for PTA dues especially from the next academic year.

Dr Opoku Prempeh said the government saw the need to motivate teachers free SHS programme was a package comprising the removal of cost barriers, physical expansion of school infrastructure, improvement in the quality of secondary education, equity and acquisition of skills for employment.

The sector Minister noted that free SHS programme was not a new programme in the country as it had started in the north long ago.

He said the current government was extending the programme to benefit the entire population.
Dr Opoku Prempeh said there was the need to make education accessible to the average Ghanaian.