Professor Ernest Aryeetey, the Former Vice Chancellor of University of Ghana on Monday called for a targeted approach that would enable parents who are not poor to make substantial financial contributions in non-free Senior High School (SHS).
He said the education system should be possible to categorise schools depending on their endowments and conditions and set eligibility criteria and exempt schools that are not eligible from free status and as well provide scholarships to eligible students in non-free schools.
These according to the Former Vice Chancellor were prudent in sustaining government flagship programme for SHS.
Prof Aryeetey stated in Accra at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank meeting on Financing Free Quality Education in Ghana-Sustainable Funding Options”.
He stated that improving the quality of SHS education would cost more money and that the state trying to do it alone would be problematic as it draws resources away from other essential investments required for structural transformation.
He was of the view that private participation including parents would provide an assurance of the sustainability as far as free SHS was concerned.
Prof Aryeetey expressed concern about the poor infrastructural investment for schools in the country, urging government to deal with the phenomenon through public private partnerships.
He stated that the public private partnerships cannot be applied uniformly and that proper criteria would have to be developed to aid selection and monitoring.
He said access to basic and secondary levels of education had improved significantly, adding that increased access had not been matched with corresponding resources.
“To improve upon the country’s educational system, government need to work on teacher supply and motivation especially in the rural areas”, he added.
Prof Opoku Amankwah, the Director General of the Ghana Education Service said the introduction of the free SHS, established in 2017 was to prepare and equip the youth with aptitude for further and life-long education and employable skills for the world of work.
According to him, the rationale was to address inequality and ensures equal opportunities for all students through the removal of cost barriers.
Touching on giving opportunities to parents who can pay for their fees, Prof Amankwah said it all had to deal with honesty of people because most of the people who benefit from scholarships are the rich at the top to the detriment of the poor.
He explained that, the country need to change its attitude and be sincere to each other for government policy to work effectively.
Source: GNA
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Government should consider taxing mobile money transactions. Even if it is 0.10 ghc/ transaction, given the volume of transaction govt can raise substantial revenue that can be used to finance the free SHS program?
This is what made Trump called Africans as coming from ***barred word*** hole. What is this? You were at Legon and you couldn't establish an endowment fund for the university where scholarships could be given to poor Ghanaians to attend the university and you are saying what? You may think that you are rich today but may be poor tomorrow, no condition is permanent. In any case, when parents were paying fees at SHS, what did we use the money for? Did we build more classrooms and dormitories? Did we grow the economy from fees or what? Intellectuals are the ones destroying this nation. Please if you think you are rich, pay your child fees and leave us alone?
To me rather the free senior High school policy must have a cut off point ,like Aggregate 30 ,then we know people will learn to full in that category. But making it open is not a good thing but the policy is very very good for the socio-economic development of Ghana
My Visionary and Competent President Nana Addo, Thank you for the Free SHS. by the way those so called rich people can sent their wards to the GIS, Akosombo International etc. who cares.
How do you determine who a rich man is.John Mahama's father was a minister and a rich man but he removed his son from Achimota to go and enjoy free secondary education in the north. Ghana's oil money must be enjoyed by all and not just a few. Years ago it was my parent's cocoa farm money which was used to fund education in the north whilst I was paying fees, injustice,now these same people have turned round to say the rich should pay, absolute ***barred word***.
The Gov't has NOT STOP rich parents from contributing to SHS. Infect the gov't has created a fund called the Free SHS Funds. A few weeks ago in the Media Tallow Oil Ghana Company did donated some cash into that fund, I think if you are a parent and you want to contribute to your child school fees please you can drop it into this funds.
This Politically Motivated Free SHS is bound to fail. It is NOT for a good cause. A vote buying scheme for this government. Now Green Track students are home without any solid grounding in what has been taught over the past 41 days. Out of the 41 days, 2 weeks of that was used to clean and get them to study. Now were are running around to get a school to enrol our ward. This is coming at the cost. Is the government also going to pick the cost? Eventually, we will end up paying more than if they had been allowed to enjoy our earlier system.
in effect, the free shs was rushed. it could have been done better if well thought through. the parents of a child who attends, for eg, baby nest where they pay around 1,200 a term should be able to pay for the wards fees at the shs level. there are parents whose children are in, for eg, university basic school and are paying around 900 a term. can they not pay fees at the shs level? students have been posted to schools as boarding students and parents are having to rent rooms for them. mind you, these are teenagers. we just need to allow this political lens of ours to break for a moment and we can do better for ghana. other sectors of the economy are dying just because of the execution of a rushed programme. we can do better ooo
ASKING RICH FAMILIES TO PAY FEES FOR THEIR WARDS IH SHS MAKES NO SENSE TO ME. WHAT IS THE CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHO IS RICH TO BE ABLE TO PAY SHS FEES? SECONDLY, IF RICH PEOPLE ARE TO PAY SHS FEES WHAT IS THE GUARANTEE THAT EVENTUALLY THE GOVERNMENT WOULD NOT OVERBURDEN THESE SUPPOSED RICH FAMILIES WITH TO MUCH FEES TO PAY BY CLANDESTINELY SHIFTING THEIR (GOVERNMENT) RESPONSIBILITY TO THE SUPPOSED RICH PARENTS? THE POLITICIANS ARE THE ONLY RICH PEOPLE IN GHANA AND THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN ALWAYS PAY AND THEY ALONE SHOULD BE MADE TO PAY. PERIOD
I always say, intellectuals are the ones destroying Ghana.Being an intellectual does not mean you are always right. Some intellectuals need common sense. Free education is also helping in the fight against corruption. This will not let the richman steal our money to pay for higher school fees. Has anybody thought about that?