Ghanaians will never allow review of Free SHS – Akufo-Addo to ‘dreaming’ NDC

President Nana Akufo-Addo has called the National Democratic Congress (NDC) dreamers saying the opposition party’s desire to review the Free SHS policy will never be allowed by Ghanaian citizens.

The NDC has consistently criticised the way the Free SHS policy has been rolled out, pledging to hold more consultations and possibly review the policy if it returns to power.

But President Nana Akufo-Addo, speaking at the 70th-anniversary celebration of Prempeh College in Kumasi, said the review will be a ploy to cancel the policy.

“Free SHS has come to stay, and the people of Ghana will never allow the dreamers, who have still not woken up from the slumber of their defeat in 2016, to come and cancel it under the guise of a so-called ‘review’.”

According to the government, 1.2 million children are currently enrolled in Senior High Schools in Ghana.

“This means that, over the last three years, some 400,000 more students, as compared to 2016, have had the opportunity of gaining access into our senior high schools. We intend to make sure that no child is denied the opportunity of senior high school education by reason of poverty,” the President added.

To current SHS 3 students, who are the first beneficiaries of the Free SHS policy, and are scheduled to write the West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) in June next year, the President had a message for them.

“You should always remember that there are some powerful political actors in our country who never wanted, and still do not want the policy. They described it as a gimmick, declared it attainable only after twenty (20) years, said it was too expensive, and now they are saying when they come back, God knows when they will review it.”

President Akufo-Addo continued saying final year students “have a big responsibility to make sure that your grades and examination results are positive and exemplary. Make good use of the sets of past questions and answer booklets procured from the West Africa Examination Council to help you in your studies.”