Renowned educationist Professor John Bright Ahetor has charged government to go back to the drawing board to properly plan and put measures in place to ensure that the free SHS policy is effective without hitches.
The renowned educationist who was speaking at Media General’s ‘Thought Leadership Public Forum’ at TV3 premises in Accra, said there is the need for government to execute the Free SHS policy properly, in order to offer students the best of education.
Speaking under the topic “One year of Free SHS policy in Ghana; counting the cost band drawing lessons to enhance secondary level education in Ghana”, Professor Ahetor underscored the need for resources to be made available, tasking government to defer the policy for a year, to put things in order.
He urged the Akufo-Addo-led government to move away from just pleasing Ghanaians because they promised the Free SHS policy on their campaign train, and look at making this work for the best interest of the ordinary Ghanaian.
“There may be something wrong with the implementation and the timing of the implementation, and the skill of the implementation. Defer this for one year, take out time and actually get out of electioneering mode, and look at national mode, and have a lot of consultations.”
“You plan; you make sure resources are available before you start implementing. There are some of us who have been here, old enough to know how things are properly done; you plan, you make sure resources are available before you start implementing anything,” he noted.
According to professor Ahetor, in as much as there is nothing wrong with the Free SHS policy, ensuring that quality education is provided, is key to its success.
“The one thing wrong with the way we are implementing this Free SHS is the fact that quality is not a factor at all. I John Ahetor my issue about education for 50 years is quality education,” he emphasized.
The Free SHS policy has been in implementation for the past year following campaign promises by the NPP government prior to the 2016 election.
While many have welcomed the policy as one to bring relief to many parents across the country, there is growing concern over some issues with the policy.
There have been complaints of congestion at some Senior High Schools as a result of the lack of proper resources to accommodate students.
Many have also criticized government’s introduction of the Double Track system of enrollment introduced as a measure to deal with the congestion, stating that this system will not allow students adequate time to study in school.
It is on the back of these issues with the policy, that leading media conglomerate, Media General, operators of TV3, 3news.com, 3FM, Onua FM, Connect FM, Akoma FM and Adesa Productions Limited took the initiative to discuss concerns and the way forward in dealing with the issues.
Media General’s “Thought Leadership Public Forum” is aimed at leading the discourse on key national issues to enhance development.
The forum is organized in partnership with Star Ghana.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana