President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Saturday, November 30, 2019, attended a grand durbar to climax the 70th-anniversary celebrations of Prempeh College.
The durbar held on the school’s campus in Kumasi had the Asnatehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II also attending.
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor who is past student of Prempeh College was also there to celebrate his alma mater.
Photos shared on the official page of President Akufo-Addo also show of brotherliness between the three leaders.
Other dignitaries present at the durbar were Education Minister Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei Mensah, Chairman Wontumi, among others.
President on 1,190 vehicles, 962 buildings for free SHS
President Akufo-Addo government is confronting the inherent challenges that have been associated with the implementation of the Free Senior High School Policy.
With some 1.2 million children currently enrolled in Senior High Schools, the highest such enrolment in the country’s history, President Akufo-Addo stated that sufficient provision has been made in the 2020 budget for the continued construction of facilities.
Speaking at the programme, the President indicated that Government, this year, commenced the construction of 962 structures, comprising classrooms, dining halls, assembly halls, sanitary facilities, and dormitories, in senior high schools across the country.
“We are also providing a total of one thousand, one hundred and ninety (1,190) vehicles, made up of three hundred and fifty (350) buses and eight hundred and forty (840) pickups to schools in various areas in the country,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo assured the Ghanaian people of his Government’s determination to address head-on the problems that arise from the implementation of the policy.
Explaining the rationale for the implementation of the Free SHS policy, the President stated that he came into office at a time when, between 2013 and 2016, there was the unfortunate situation in Ghana where, on the average, 100,000 children, every year, who passed the B.E.C.E., could not take up their places in Senior High Schools, because they could not afford the fees, even though they had the qualifications.
“If this situation had persisted for a decade, one million children would have dropped out of school at the level of Junior High School, an unacceptable outcome for any nation in the 21st century,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo continued, “It would have been too dangerous for Ghana’s stability, as we would have been building a future of hopelessness for our youth. Such a situation was intolerable, and my party and I were determined to end it. That is why the Free Senior High School policy was introduced.”
The President noted that the countries that have made rapid progress around the world put education at the heart of their development.
He recounted how, in the late 19th century, the United States of America began to transition to publicly funded high school education, describing it as a daunting prospect at the time.
The experiment for paying for the education of so many children, for such an extended period of time out of limited public resources, transferring a potential workforce away from immediate productivity for investment in schooling, paid off.
“America set herself up for 20th-century success, creating a labour force fit for rapid economic development, which has inspired the emergence of the most powerful economy so far known to human history,” President Akufo-Addo added.
His Government, he stressed, is determined to follow suit, and this has resulted in some 1.2 million children currently enrolled in Senior High Schools in Ghana, the highest such enrolment in our history.
“This means that, over the last three years, some four hundred thousand (400,000) more students, as compared to 2016, have had the opportunity of gaining access into our senior high schools. We intend to make sure that no child is denied the opportunity of senior high school education by reason of poverty,” the President added.
No child will be denied SHS education by reason of poverty
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on Ghanaians not to give the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) mandate in the 2020 general elections to come and cancel the free SHS policy.
Nana Akufo-Addo said the NDC wants to cancel the policy under the disguise of reviewing but reiterated that the policy has come to stay.
Mr Akufo-Addo said 1.2 million children have currently been enrolled in SHS which has been the highest enrollment in the history of the country.
He noted that from 2016 to date over 400,000 more students have gained the opportunity to enroll in SHS after the free SHS policy was implemented and that his government intends to make sure no child is denied the opportunity to enjoy SHS education by reason of poverty.
Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com
