A former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central has hailed the government for accepting that there are challenges in the implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
Theophilus Tetteh Chaie says it is now the responsibility of every Ghanaian to support the government to make sure the Free SHS policy succeeds because the children are the children of Ghana and the future of this country.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had said the teething challenges confronting the policy will be fixed.
He said he was inspired by the famous Chinese adage which says “a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step” in implementing the policy.
“We have taken that first step in Ghana, and we shall deal with the challenges,” adding: “Already, tenders have gone out and, soon, contracts will be awarded for the provision of some 69,500 mono desks, and some 13,100 bunk beds”.
Contributing on the issue on TV3’s New Day hosted by Bright Nana Amfoh on Tuesday, Mr Tetteh Chaie said: “I am very happy that government has now accepted the challenges. They have accepted the facts all the stakeholders raised and have realized that what is happening is not good for this country”.
“All of us as a country must help the government to succeed because the children are our children. We have to ensure that we put pressure on the government to provide quality education for the children because if we will not use canteens for class rooms, tents for classroom and canteens, no one will fault the government,” the former MP cited.
“We must allow our party egos to lie down and then work together as a country to ensure that we make the project work because stakeholders who raised concerns about the implementation were gagged. Headmasters, headmistresses, teachers were gagged for expressing concerns about the free SHS.”
The former legislator said “government assured the people of Ghana in July that it will address the challenges, we are in the end of November but the challenges are there and it shows clearly that there is a revenue gap”.
He noted that “if the government is not able to raise the revenue to fund the first term, then it means the government is not committed because the resources that we generate for the country is limited and government cannot say that it is using all the resources to fund education”.
He called on the government to balance the use of resources so that other sectors will not suffer as a result of the Free SHS.
“There is the need for you to balance. We should not allow the full blow of the free SHS to rather destroy the education structure.”
The Member of Parliament for Sekondi Constituency in the Western Region, Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer, who was also on the show, said government is willing to fund and sustain the free SHS.
He said the special fund created in support of the free SHS is in right direction because over the years, old students of various schools have helped their schools.
“Some old boys renovated school dormitories, how about that?
“We shouldn’t even ask how the project will be funded because the government is committed in funding it.”
By Kweku Antwi-Otoo|TV3|3news.com|Ghana