There is an overwhelming support from Ghanaians for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government’s flagship free Senior High School (SHS) policy, a research has revealed.
According to the report of the poll titled ‘Eyes On The Big Issues,’ about 72.59 percent of Ghanaians were in full support of the Free SHS as against 27.41 percent who opposed the policy.
“We found support for it (free SHS) to be strongest among the most educated. Men were more likely to be in favour than women,” according to the report.
The poll was reportedly conducted to gauge the views of Ghanaians on a number of issues that have dominated public discourse in recent times.
The aim was to get a broad picture of the national mood by assessing the views of the public on the free SHS, the proposed construction of the National Cathedral, Ghana’s $2 billion barter deal with China, among others.
Views of 1,072 respondents, who reportedly came from various parts of the country, were taken between September 29 and October 7 2018.
About 44.07 percent of men were in support of the free SHS policy, 14.72 percent male said no to the policy while 28.52 percent women were in support of it and 12.70 percent said no to it.
However, the majority of respondents were reportedly against the government’s double track system as far as implementation of the policy is concerned.
About 40.20 percent of Ghanaians were in favour of the double track system while 59.80 percent reportedly said no to it.
“Men were more likely to oppose double track, however, as were those with tertiary education or higher,” the report said, adding that “generally, we also found great opposition amongst 18-31 age demographics.
At the regional level, according to the report, whereas there was majority rejection of double track system, Brong Ahafo respondents, were however, in favour of double track system, with respondents in Western and Eastern Regions reportedly divided over the issue.
Mahama Opposes
The report is coming out at time when former President John Mahama, for apparent political expediency, is campaigning against the implementation of the programme which has helped over 270,000 students to gain admission to SHSs since its inception in September 2017.
Mr. Mahama, who has not hidden his aversion to the free SHS programme, announced plans to scrap it if given the chance to lead Ghana again even though the policy is a social initiative that should have been in line with his National Democratic Congress (NDC’s) vision for the country as the party claims to be a social democratic party.
During a campaign tour recently in Cape Coast, Mr. Mahama stated that the Free SHS policy was implemented at a bad time.
According to him, instead of free SHS, he would revisit the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) originally introduced in 2000 to provide scholarships to underprivileged youth.
He stated that “Our NPP friends…they don’t listen to advice. They think they know everything.”
He said after scrapping it, he will then set a timetable when to start again.
But it appears the majority of Ghanaians for whom Mr. Mahama is gearing up to review or scrap the policy are rather with President Akufo-Addo, and apparently do not see any logic in scraping such a highly important social intervention that is lessening the plight of parents, especially the poor ones.
Other Issues
Meanwhile, the research revealed that a clear majority of respondents were against the idea of government using Ghana’s natural resources in a barter deal with China, as well as constructing a national cathedral.
The younger population was very critical of the cathedral project.
The majority of Ghanaians, according to the report, said the government must pay attention to the country’s economy.
Source: Daily Guide
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@Eiiiiiii, mahama said it and every Ghanaian knows mahama on the unlikely even of getti g power will cancel it l, don't hide because you've been beaten again mercilessly. I said ndc are f000*00ls, instead of wasting time to research on why they lost in that unprecedented fashion, and rectify they are rather condemning every good thing for the people and rushing on the sentiments of the people like they are calling for the ndc to come back and ste*al and cause more damage. Ndc is not a political party that think kritically. They will go to the 2020 polls with Onaapo and usel*ess slogans and songs and get defeated the heaviest. Any serious party will think of bridging the heavy gap first before thinking of winning,but here we are with a party whose only agenda is winning an election even when it is clear they've lost they come out to announce we are in a comfortable lead. Hahahahha! political jokers of the century
You are very uselessness because nothing is happening in Ghana beside free SHS. Development is stagnant and we cannot catch up with the rest of the world with only free SHS. If you truly love your country there is be objective.
So up till now NDC has not come up with a single social intervention policy. What a use`*less party! Why do they want power in the first place? I will them 50yrs in opposition.
This is a chop bar survey. Which research organisation carried out this work? They are disgrace to the academia’s. Their numbers don’t add up. Kookoo ase research.
"About 44.07 percent of men were in support of the free SHS policy, 14.72 percent male said no to the policy while 28.52 percent women were in support of it and 12.70 percent said no to it." If this is the actual report from the study, then the paper is wrong to say 72.57% support the free SHS. I am sure the reporter got everything wrong. If "44.07 percent of men were in support", then 55.93% of men were not in support. The numbers reported don't make sense at all. They should come back again.
LET US THINK ABOUT OURSELVES NPP/NDC SYMPATIZERS. DISGRACEFUL GROUP OF PEOPLE IN GHANA OUR MOTHER LAND.EITHER FREE OR SEMI FREE SHS IT'S OUR MONEY AND NOT FROM NPP/NDC POCKETS. 2020 NPP/NDC WILL SEE THEIR SMOOTHNESS LEVEL PERIOD. THAT'S DEMOCRACY.
We all know Mahama. If he says 'yes', he actually means 'no', and vice-versa. 'Review' in the language of the NDC and Mahama, means, 'cancel'. We all remember the NDC 'reviewed' the 4-year SHS, just cancelled it and made it 3 years and said it was not negotiable. If Ghanaians will be honest, the 4-year SHS groups had the highest pass rate in the annals of SHS in this country.
Daily guide where did Mahama say he will scrap the free SHS when given the chance to rule again. At the very least be fair to the man and stop twisting his words to favor your NPP government.