The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says despite criticisms of the Free SHS Policy, it is a transformative policy which has broken myths and liberated minds.
He observed that a lot of young people could not have education in the secondary level due to financial constraints.
The president noted that,”Not being able to go to secondary school for lack of money was so widespread and an accepted phenomenon that it led to some people thinking Senior High School was not meant for them or their children or for people from their village, and, therefore, a child in the family finishing Junior High School and moving on to Senior High School was simply not factored in their expectations.”
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Delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) today, February 27, in Parliament, President Akufo Addo stressed that,”Free SHS might be labelled by its detractors as a mere political slogan that must be demonised, but it is, in fact, a transformative programme that has broken myths and liberated minds.”
He continued,”It is humbling on the one hand and frightening on the other, to think of the sheer number of talents that Free SHS has unearthed that would otherwise have ended their formal education at BECE.”
He stated ,”I know we will get more engineers, doctors, architects, scientists, writers and poets out of the increased numbers of those attending Senior High School, who will go on to further education.”
Meanwhile the President said,”Even if they stop at Senior High School, imagine what a million more Secondary School educated young people will do to our self-confidence and the value of our workforce. That, alone, makes Free SHS worthwhile. I am proud that the NPP government, under my leadership, has been able to bring this transformative policy into our education system.”
“I believe the success of the Free SHS has answered its critics, and the arguments about it should cease, and we should simply concentrate on finding ways to improve it. I am particularly glad that the fears about lowering of standards have been allayed. Refreshingly, we witnessed, through the 2023 batch of Free SHS students, the best WASSCE results in a decade,” The President added.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
