The Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Alban Sumaila Bagbin has also waded into the ‘Free SHS’ debate and has said the current way of administering the programme isn’t sustainable.
His comments come after the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Attah called for the discrimination of the policy earlier this week.
Mr. Ofori-Atta had said that the Free SHS policy must be implemented discriminatorily so that those who have the means are made to pay for their children’s second-cycle education.
“The Minister of Finance is just being realistic, he is being candid and I think that my friends in his government should take that as an advice and maybe re-look at the policy,” Mr. Bagbin said
The government intends to introduce a double track system this September to increase the number of students for the next academic year.
“It just came out of him [Mr. Ofori-Atta] that look: this thing it is not possible we can’t sustain it if we go that way, why not just look at those who can’t pay and allow those who can pay to pay?” Mr. Bagbin said.
For him, the Free SHS policy was rushed through without the needed infrastructure, human resource and other necessities put in place first.