President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed his delight with the Free Senior High School policy, which was implemented by his administration in September 2017 and now ensures that all Ghanaian children receive a minimum of senior high school education.
“Five (5) years after the implementation of the Free Senior High School programme, which has guaranteed a minimum of Senior High School education for 1.6 million Ghanaian children, I want to state, without equivocation, that I am very proud of the policy and its results thus far,” President Akufo-Addo said.
On Saturday, December 11, 2021, at the 70th anniversary celebration of the Tamale Senior High School (TAMASCO) in Tamale, the President stated that the most efficient way to create a society of opportunities, and thus ensure the future of a nation, is to invest in youth education and skills training.
He remarked that Ghana cannot move from a developing to a developed country without an educated population, adding that “it is the people of Ghana, Ghanaians like you and me, and especially the youth of today, who will create Ghana.”
The President remarked that the results of the WASSCE in 2020 and 2021 provide more proof of why the Free SHS policy has been a success thus far.
“Some called Free SHS “a waste,” while others claimed it would “destroy our Ivy League Schools” and that it would “reduce the quality of senior high school education.” None of this has occurred, and I am certain they have eggs on their faces now, or should have, according to President Akufo-Addo.
“The 2021 WASSCE results of the second batch of “Akufo-Addo graduates” show 54.08 percent of students scoring A1-C6 in English, compared to 51.6 percent in 2016; 65.70 percent scoring A1-C6 in Integrated Science, compared to 48.35 percent in 2016; 54.11 percent scoring A1-C6 in Mathematics, compared to 33.12 percent in 2016; and 66.03 percent scoring A1-C6 in Social Studies, Let us not forget that the class of 2021 was the first to use the double track system, which drew a lot of vitriol and unwarranted criticism.
The substantial increase in the percentage of TAMASCO students who have qualified to attend university, he added, is further indicator of the policy’s usefulness.
“It was 29.2 percent in 2015, 31.4 percent in 2016, 34.7 percent in 2017, 31.3 percent in 2018, 31.3 percent in 2019, 46.3 percent in 2020, and 45.8 percent in 2021. Surely, Chairperson, there can be no longer any doubt about the legality of the Free SHS policy and its ramifications. He stated, “It’s working.”
As a result, the President urged all Ghanaians to “forego partisan, parochial considerations, which provide little benefit, and all agree that Free SHS must be a part of our national educational architecture, if not forever.” Our country will undoubtedly be strengthened and enriched.”
Education is important to me.
President Akufo-Addo told the audience that the government has adopted a teacher licensure regime aimed at professionalizing teaching and bringing it in line with international best practices, reiterating the government’s commitment to providing quality, relevant education. The National Teaching Council has given a total of 129,000 licenses to instructors so far.
He went on to say that the government has started building twenty (20) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) centers across the country, with all of them nearing completion.
Furthermore, six hundred and fifty-seven (657) of the 1,119 projects under the Free Senior High School Infrastructure Intervention have been completed, with the Ghana Education Service procuring and distributing 2,718, cars to various schools around the nation.
President Akufo-Addo assured the audience that “in 2022, Government would expand the Free SHS Programme to cover all first-year students in public TVET Institutes,” referring to the completion of nine (9) Model Senior High Schools around the country.
He also stated that the government would continue to implement various reforms and projects in the TVET sector, such as the rehabilitation and upgrading of technical universities, the upgrading and modernisation of the thirty-four (34) NVTI centres, the retooling of TVET institutes, and the establishment of ten (10) state-of-the-art TVET institutes.
source: akonnornews.com/Ghana
