The Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah has touted the importance of the free Senior High School programme in Ghana’s development.

Mr. Assafuah insisted that the policy is helping to bridge the educational inequality gap in the country.

“There are many all too familiar stories around the globe, and as the son of a teacher myself and as many are aware of my last job as the Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Education, I have seen first-hand, this value I speak about and its many potentials.”

He was also of the view that President Akufo-Addo won the 2020 polls because of the key role the free SHS programme played in the lives of parents and students.

Mr. Assafuah made the remarks in Parliament on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, when he made his maiden statement in the house on international day of education.

“Free SHS is single-handed, the biggest and most revolutionary social policy by any government in our 4th republican democracy in my view, and I’m happy, based on the experience of the last election, that today, we have a better consensus on this policy as compared to previous elections,” he said.

“Mr. Speaker, education is about possibilities and potentials: it’s the potential of redefining basic education from Kindergarten to include SHS, covering vocational, agricultural as well as technical schools and the possibility of granting access to millions of children. It’s about the commitment to revive the lots of teachers by converting Teacher Training Colleges into Degree awarding institutions and making sure allowances due to teacher trainees are paid,” he added.

Free SHS

The Free Secondary High School policy for both boarding and day students in Ghana was an initiative introduced in September 2017 by the Akufo-Addo government.

The first batch of free SHS graduates who gained admission to pursue several courses in tertiary institutions in Ghana went to school this month, January 2021.