Nahimat Adekoga with Agency report
The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, has disclosed that plans have been concluded to introduce free secondary education in the country from September.
Akufo-Addo disclosed the plans while addressing the audience at the 60th anniversary celebration of Akuapeman Senior High School in the Eastern Region, where he spoke on spoke on the theme: “One Vision, Many Lives”.
He explained that the government would fund the cost of public Senior High Schools (SHS) for anyone who qualifies from the 2017/2018 academic year.
He said the fact that Ghana has been unable to give its entire citizens secondary education which had enabled the West and Asia countries to thrive, was the missing link in the country’s economic development.
“By free SHS, we mean that, in addition to tuition which is already free, there will be no admission fees, no library fees, no science centre fees, no computer laboratory fees, no examination fees, no utility fees.
“There will be free textbooks, free boarding and free meals, and day students will get a meal at school for free,” he added.
The President noted that a society that aims to transform itself into a modern, productive player in the global market, needs an educated workforce; and that means it must get its educational policies right.
The Ghanaian leader said his administration would also focus on the provision of incentives that would motivate teachers and reward their hard work.
The free SHS policy was one of the promises of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the last electioneering campaigns.
