We cannot water down the investment made into free SHS - Afenyo-Markin

Effutu Member of Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has asked Ghanaians not to water down the investment made by the current administration into the implementation of the free senior high school policy.

The lawyer and philanthropist argued that the policy has helped several deprived families send their wards to secondary school, which they would have been deprived of due to financial difficulties.

Using himself as an example, he said he nearly dropped out of St. Augustine’s College until the intervention of Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, who granted him a bursary to complete his education came.

He said there were several other persons with similar challenges until the free SHS implementation started.

"I do not want us to water down the investment this government has made in the free SHS. It is a major investment, millions of Ghanaians have benefitted, and today, someone from the inter-land can have access to a first-class school. This I believe we must sustain, and the government is saying that it is not giving up on it,” Afenyo-Markin stated.

The Finance Minister delivering the mid-year budget on Monday stated that the government has placed human capital development at the core of our national transformation efforts since 2017.

He disclosed that the government invested GH¢ 5.3 billion to enable 1,261,495 Ghanaian children to access secondary education under the Free SHS programme at the end of 2021 to improve access to education.

"Out of the 571,892 registered JHS candidates, 555,353, representing 97.1 percent, were placed into SHS this year. This is significant We are aware of reported challenges in accessing and transporting food for students in SHS and we are fixing it. In response, we have engaged stakeholders and devised a programme that ensures that schools will not be disrupted and our students are well-fed," Afenyo-Markin stated.

"Government has also recently completed 17 additional projects including classroom blocks, dormitories, staff bungalows and libraries as part of infrastructural expansion in Senior High Schools. To deal with the record increases in student numbers,” he added.