Information Minister Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has asked the public to ignore Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s opinion that the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy be reviewed to target the poor while the rich are made to pay for their children’s second-cycle education.
According to him, the vision of President Nana Akufo-Addo is a free-for-all SHS programme and that is what government will pursue.
The Minister told journalists at the Regional Coordinating Council in Tamale on Tuesday, 31 July 2018 that government will not reverse the policy.
“… The person whose vision we are driving is the vision of the President of the Republic of Ghana and the President of the Republic of Ghana’s vision is that every child who goes to secondary should go to the secondary for free.
“The Finance Minister’s opinion does not stand in the face of the President’s vision. It’s not going to happen. The Finance Minister does not have a locus. His opinion is dead”, Dr Abdul-Hamid said.
According to him, “It is not even in his [Mr Ofori-Atta’s] bosom to bring an educational matter to Cabinet. It is only the Education Minister who can, so he can only go and lobby the Education Minister to come to Parliament and there is no Cabinet decision that must go contrary to the NPP manifesto, finished.”
Mr Ofori-Atta had suggested that the Free SHS policy must be implemented discriminatorily so that those who have the means are made to pay for their children’s second-cycle education.
Implementation of the policy started in September 2017 with about 90,000 students. It covers the full fees of students who attend public senior high schools.
Speaking to Bernard Avle in an interview on Citi TV, Mr Ofori-Atta said: “I don’t think it [Free SHS] is something any of us can compromise on”, adding that: “It may be that there have to be changes in the way in which we are administering it”.
“I can’t take my child to Achimota or Odorgonno and then leave him or her and drive away and Ken Ofori-Atta not pay anything while I can pay for 10 people. … You need to get the data to then be discriminatory in how and who pays and who doesn’t pay”, he said.
Speaking about the next academic year, he said: “You actually going to have, maybe, 180,000 more people but it’s so important, you’d rather make that mistake – if it is a mistake – to get everybody in the system for the nation to then begin to have a conversation and say: ‘OK, this is good for us because we want that human capital and to a certain level, but maybe let’s begin to adjust it this way’”
But Mr Hamid maintained that: “If we go into another election and we want to revise the manifesto that’s another matter but now the 2016 manifesto says that we are implementing Free SHS for rich children and for poor children and that is what it shall be.”
Source: classfmonline.com
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jo jo kple jo gamado gborna lo, jo jo kple jo gamado gborna!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is a song in the ewe language that when the truth is coming nothing stops it. my son is part of the current basic JHS students and am confuse and don't know how he is gonna fit into the new system. not that i cannot pay the fees but where to send him now is my problem. the system is in a disarray and confused. i want the politicians to leave the education sector for the technocrats be it NDC OR CPP OR NPP, On education we must all speak for GHANA and that will help all of us. I want to tasked the Ghanaian journalist to send their microphones to the ministries and departments and asked a simple question of our ministers to name the school their children are and make a follow up and see if it is true. then we can make a better argument of who is fooling who. B4 i go i heard this morning that the statesman paper is reporting that the president said he has not gone through the AMERI innovation deal well b4 signing so it must be withdrawn from parliament is this also true? enjoy the rest of the day
Mr Minister, please hold your gun! Do you have to shoot down your Finance Minister like that? Why the haste to come forward to condemn a very sensible and intelligent advice from one of your own, and a MINISTER for that matter? So in Ghana now, people don't want to give the truth the chance? I think the Finance Minister was only trying to express his personal opinion and not talking on behalf of the government. I'm a staunch NPP man in the Diaspora, but I really am disappointed in the stance you've taken on this issue. I believe, and so do many Ghanaians, that the Minister of Finance is the best person (not the minister of information)to advise the government on matters of finance. So will you give us a break!
mustafa albino! pls do not rubbish what ken suggest to akufo ado he new what is in account of the state and mind yr speech with respect.free shs is possible but now now since ken knows this with a fact like what addo kufor said to akufo ado b4 but bcos Ghanaian are pushing akufo ado for his promise he also rush to implement it now there more tension in the country. to me akufo ado should suspend it for proper planing prior applying it.
what kind of a man dares to talk honestly against his own cousin, the President's policy? This man is indeed God-sent! God bless you Mr Ofori Attah. and may He give your cousin the humility to listen to you and do the right thing by restructuring the Free SHS for the poor so the rich will pay.
eiiii! Mustapha Hamid! i rmba when u used to walk around like us all after parking ur car on Legon campus. Now, u have a uniformed Police Officer and two plain clothed national security machomen as bodyguards so you think you have reached. Pls dont insult or make any derogatory remark about Uncle Ken again. this is a kind warning. Who Jah bless, no one curse
***barred word*** MINISTER
Ahh this ofilijato too has wings now. Mr. Nobody now has a voice. What have you done in Ghana before yo had this opportunity. good for nothing boy like this ofilii....
The govt is in disarray. Lord have mercy
It surprises me that Ofori Atta is being treated this way. I kind of had a great deal of respect for Ken for being able to express his opinion this way. I appreciate that of a person in whom we have given our money in trust. double salute KEN
Rubbish talk,if your brain is powered by ecg it will definitely go off when there's power outage. Does Mustafa know how to prepare a simple budget for a family of three.His brain is at the mercy of ecg.***barred word*** minister for information.