JUST IN: Private Secondary Schools To Be Included In The Free SHS Policy
Former President H.E John Dramani Mahama has stated that Private Secondary Schools will be included in the future National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration’s Free SHS program.
He feels that collaborating with Private Senior High Schools as part of policy execution will benefit the government.
Many Private Secondary Schools have little or no admission since the Free SHS policy compelled many parents who would have opted for better quality tuition and services in private schools to gain admission for their wards in public schools to relieve them of any financial liability in the aftermath of the Free SHS policy in 2017.
Given the current situation of the Free SHS policy, Mr Mahama feels that a well-coordinated effort will encourage proprietors of these schools to stay in business and employ many Ghanaians, hence lowering the country’s unemployment rate. He also explained how such a move will assist the government, which is trying to provide infrastructure to stop the double track system, to do so easily by utilizing the facilities of existing private schools to alleviate the pressure on pupils.
Former President John Mahama stated at the Assembly Hall of Jabezz Secondary School in the Gomoa Central Constituency as part of his Central regional tour that including private schools will be a priority in the next NDC government.
“We cannot have a facility like this and let them go to waste. We have done it with NHIS. NHIS allowed private hospitals to be part of NHIS. Why can’t we allow private secondary schools to be part of the Free SHS system? We can do it,” he lamented.
Prof. Richard Kofi Asiedu, the party’s Central Regional Chairman, praised the inclusion of private schools in the Free SHS program while on the campaign trail.
According to him, when the collaboration is expanded to private school owners, they will be able to work with the government to eliminate the double-track system and minimize the government’s costs in terms of infrastructure and parent concerns.
“We have advised this government innumerable times about the need to include the private secondary schools in the policy but they are adamant, I’m happy John Mahama is thinking in our direction to save some of these schools that have collapsed or are on the verge of collapsing,” he said.
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