More Students Benefited Under Mahama’s Progressively Free SHS - Kofi Adams

Analysis by the National Organizer for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Kofi Adams on President Akufo Addo’s Free SHS policy shows that former President Mahama’s progressively free education policy, benefited more students than Akufo-Addo’s.

According to him, the Mahama-led NDC government’s progressively free education, paid all expenses of Day Students from SHS 1 to SHS 3 and also selected 120,000 Boarding Students in Ghana to enjoy the progressively free education enrolled in 2015.

Speaking on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Kofi Adams asserted that over 500,000 students benefited from Mahama’s progressively free education under the secondary education level.

He added that in comparison with President Akufo-Addo’s Free SHS policy which only covers the first year students across the country, the number of students benefiting are 400,000; making Mahama’s progressively free education more beneficiary to students than Akufo Addo’s Free SHS.

“ . . if you add the Day Students in SSS1 to SSS3 and the selected 120,000 boarders across the country together, they were more than 500,000 students who were benefiting from the progressively free education under Mahama government . . . do you know the number of students in the first year who are benefiting from the Free SHS are just about 400,000? So the number of students who enjoyed free education policy under Mahama were more than those under Akufo Addo,” he claimed.

He however added that “the only difference is that, this government has made it all first year students across the country. The sad thing is that those in the second and third year are also poor and even poorer than those in the first year”.

He also maintained that generally nobody in the opposition NDC is fighting against the Free SHS education but wondered why the roll-out of the policy is limited to only first year students whereas it takes both the second and third year students to make SHS education complete.

“If the policy is covering only the first year students, then the NPP should make us understand that the progressive the NDC started is exactly what they are continuing but in different approach,” he opined.

Buttressing his point further on the progressively compulsory free basic education, Kofi Adams reminded that President Rawlings did same to help improve the educational ladder by providing GETFund to empower the policy as enshrined in the 1992 constitution.

Likewise Presidents Kufuor, the late Professor Mills and John Mahama did their part and it is now the turn of President Akufo-Addo.

“ . . it is the same progressively free education that President Akufo-Addo is doing except that their progressive is a bit discriminately which is affecting others and this is not too good...," he insisted.

“So free education is a good thing and no NDC member is speaking against this Free SHS; this is something bad that some people want to tag the NDC with that we are against the Free SHS policy. The position of NDC all the way through to the election is that the way the nation is, we should do it progressively so that it won’t be a discriminatory,” he stated.