Former Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has admonished Government to exclude wards of the elite in society from the Free Senior High School Program scheduled to take off later this year.
He argues that rather than focusing on every school going child in the country, government should focus solely on the deprived in society and assist them through school. He maintains that the wards of Ministers, Members of Parliament, and other government officials by virtue of their positions are poised to cater for the educational needs of their wards and hence do not need government’s assistance in that regard.
“I don’t believe that children of MP’s, Ministers, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Managers of institutions, corporate giants, their Chief Executives should all be benefitting from free SHS.
Though he lauded the idea of funding students across the country at the Senior High level, he maintained that the method of implementation of the program was a “lazy” one.
According to him, the approach to funding is not feasible considering the current state of the country’s resources.
“I think that it is not well thought through, excuse my language but that’s a lazy approach. It is good but it is about how you implement it . . . you don’t have all the resources. When you look at this year’s budget for instance, only GHC 400 million was found for free SHS which can cover not even all the first years, not even to the second year and third year students."
Rather he suggests, government should identify the vulnerable and poor in society and invest the monies in their education to be able to reserve some of the limited resources and channel them into other equally important areas of education.
“Government cannot argue that we don’t have vulnerable people, poor people in second year and third year . . . we can identify the vulnerable who need the support so that we can spare some of the support and invest in these critical areas. Teacher motivation, logistics, learning materials, all these things are critical . . . You need the resources to have a holistic program for education in Ghana and if you want to move all the resources to free SHS which clearly you are struggling to find the resources for, and it is not targeted, I don’t think it is judicious use of money,” he explained.
The Free Senior High School Program is scheduled to take off in September this year. The program will ensure that all students of public senior high schools (SHS) in the country will receive free funding from the first to the third year.
“The government of Ghana will fund the cost of public Senior High Schools for all those who qualify for entry from the 2017/2018 academic year onwards,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo assured that the program will cover tuition, admission , library, examination, computer lab and utility fees. It will also cater for text books, boarding house fees, and meals which will cover day students as well.
Source: ghanaweb.com
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ABLAKWA PUT ON YOUR THINKING CUP, ARE YOU SAYING GHANAIANS SHOULD INCLUDE DISCRIMINATION INTO OUR CONSTITUTION. THE FREE SHS IS IT CONSTITUTIONAL OR A PARTY MANIFESTO?, WHY SO QUICK IN ADDING YOUR VOICE TO ISSUES WITHOUT THINKING DEEP ABOUT IT, ON WHAT BASIS ARE YOU SAYING THIS?, THIS IS A SERIOUS GOOF.LAST YEAR YOU WERE A MINISTER, ARE YOU STILL A MINISTER TODAY, THAT'S THE PROBLEM. THE PROGRAM IS FOR GHANA AND NOT ANYONE ELSE, ABLAKWA. AND SOMEBODY OF THIS CALIBRE WAS MADE A MINISTER, HE CAN'T EVEN THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX ALWAYS INWARD
HOW MANY MP'S KIDS STUDY IN GHANA. ONCE THEY BECOME MPS. THIER SEND THEIR KIDS ABROAD TO STUDY
Hmm. In one breadth the NDC says free SHS can never be implemented and in another breadth it is saying MPs children must be exempted. I rest my case
Empirically, what impact will it make? The impact will be infinitesimal. Assuming all MP's have five kids, which is actual sense wouldn't be the case; on the average one kid happen to find him or herself in SHS, tell me what would mean to you.
hahaha hahaha "Abla Kwa nto abla" meaning Ablakwa is lying. ask ablakwa how many of the 20,000 scholarships did they award to children from poor families?..............I tell you not less than 80% of all scholarships in Ghana are given to the same politicians family members. if you come to the UK it is free education, not scholarships. Ahh, today Ablakwa is calling himself richman? politics "adaworoma" but if Ablakwa and his friends think they do not need the free education, they are free to take their wards to private schools....it is everywhere even here in the UK.
I completely agree with Hon. Ablakwa
where is the sense in what this guy is telling us.So after all there is money in politics? he is just confirming to us the money they get from being a politician. In fact most of them even send their kids abroad to school or send them to private schools so what is he talking about. how many politicians have their wards in the public schools for you to say that they shd be excluded? I believe it should rather be the opposite. politicians shd be made to keep their wards in the country and in the public schools to enjoy the free shs. may be just may be that will help to stop the stealing. he is talking as if they care about anybody else in this country other than themselves. there is no sense in what the guy said. he is just trying to confuse the masses but not me anyway bcos i think better than him
Samuelyou are truly growing as a politician.The needy should be the focus. Thumps up
Ablakwa yu are really growing in politics and showimg more maturity. im a strong NPP but I support you more than 100%.Keep it up