Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Deputy Minister of Information
A Deputy Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has stated that government is not finding it difficult to fund its flagship ‘free SHS’ programme.
He said there have been thought-out funding channels before its implementation last year.
He, however, conceded that the program was faced with some challenge at the initial stages but the government was able to weather the storm and has fixed it.
“It is incorrect to say the government is in a fix regarding the free SHS system. In the first year of the free SHS system, the initial challenge was that we could not find the money to fund it. Budgetary allocation of about 400 million cedis was made available”, he said.
“We funded it and about 90,000 students who did not have an opportunity to go to school did. In this second year, we are envisaging a larger number going into Senior High School.”
The free senior high school education policy was one of the President Akufo-Addo’s main campaign promises during the 2008, 2012 and 2016 general elections.
As the debate over funding of the free SHS programme continues, Education Minister, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh has said enrollment under the Free Senior High School policy for September 2018 will cover more beneficiaries than in 2017.
