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All kinds of appellations were showered on the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Medical School auditorium when he outlined his policy statement on education. �Nana, you were born to deliver the country from its bad economic state�; and �Nana you have sacrificed for the country a lot, we know you can implement the free Senior High School (SHS) policy, since you have been able to contribute your quota towards the development of the country� were some of the statements made by the students when Nana arrived at the UCC. Nana Addo, in an African wear, was flanked by some gurus of the party as well as some lecturers of the university. The close-to-two-hours intensive lecture on education was attended by thousands of students at the university. The students were clad in NPP colours amidst drumming and dancing to party songs. The whole auditorium was filled to capacity as people had to wait outside to listen to Nana Addo. Refuelling Free SHS Nana Akufo-Addo refuelled his free SHS signature policy when he spited his NDC counterpart�s dissenting stance on it, describing the programme as long overdue. Delivering one of his most powerful speeches yet on education, themed �Education: The Key To Transforming Ghana�, he told the teeming students and others that �the NDC says you should wait for 20 years before you can enjoy what their presidential candidate enjoyed more than 30 years ago.� The opportunity, which President Mahama enjoyed as a young man, that led him to become president of the Republic, Nana said, was what was urging him on to give free SHS education to every Ghanaian, adding, �Tell the naysayers, we are already 20 years behind time.� Ghanaian children, he stated, would have free SHS now and not in some distant indeterminate future, stressing, �We will do that while continuing to provide well-planned infrastructural development for the schools, increasing opportunities for teachers and uplifting their status in society. We will do this whilst working hard every day to increase the numeracy, literacy, writing and ICT skills of our children.� Free secondary education, according to him, besides the knowledge from books, would afford the Ghanaian child access to life experiences. Firing a direct hit at his NDC counterpart, John Mahama, whose stance he described as cynical, he said the policy was not about winning election but rather preparing the next generation for the economic transformation of Ghana. For those who believe that no child should be left behind simply for financial reasons, he said, they should vote for the NPP, stressing that �out of the children who have dropped out of education, a child may have emerged who, could have risen to the Presidency of Ghana�. Free SHS, he emphasised, was not only feasible but should be implemented now. He expressed delight that education focus of his campaign �has driven the discourse in this year�s presidential election campaign, but I am afraid we are in danger of the critical issues being lost in the deliberate hysteria that has been generated by our opponents.� Turning his attention on other areas of development, which are dependent on the availability of an educated workforce, he said the economy of Ghana should be transformed to make it a high-income economy. To achieve this goal, he said, �We must process the natural resources we have to enable us to reap higher benefits from them. To achieve what we are all agreed on, we must have an educated workforce.� The American and British experience, he stated, offered �us important lessons on how education can turn around the fortunes of a country�. �The United States of America did it a hundred years ago, the British did it seventy years ago and the nations that we started life with fifty something years ago, like Singapore and Malaysia, have done it,� he emphasised. He stated, �We have all accepted that education is the best route to moving out of poverty. I have met parents who sell their inheritance to make sure their children get an education, I have met children whose desperation to get into a higher level of education is palpable. I am aware of the sacrifices many of your parents have made to bring you thus far.� He re-narrated the story of a 17-year-old boy he met in Akwasiho, in Abetifi in the Eastern Region, who said he dropped out of school because his parents couldn�t pay his fees in Senior High School. �This particular boy�s story stays with me mostly because of the sound of desperation in his voice as he feared life was already passing him by,� he recalled. For Ghana to make a success of its education policy, he said, �we must pay attention to teachers. Our Teacher First Policy is at the heart of the NPP�s education policy. It is only a crop of well-trained, self-confident and contented teachers that can deliver the educated and skilled workforce we require to transform our economy.� This NDC government, he said, appeared to think that the education of Ghana�s children was a political toy for them to play with. 3/4 Years Policy Nana Addo stated that the NDC �reduced the duration of Senior High School (SHS) from four years to three years for no reason but that it had been done by an NPP government. The results of the past two years have shown students who spent four years at SHS performing excellently at the West African Senior School Certificate of Education (WASSCE).� Nana promised to review the three/four-year controversy �based on the hard data that emerged from examination results in our goal to pursue the path of greatest benefit to Ghana�s children and settle the matter once and for all�. �The next NPP government will build upon the successes of the Kufour administration in education and whatever that is good under the NDC,� he added.