The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) SOS message to the government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Education, has vindicated John Dramani Mahama and the NDC’s position regarding the implementation of the Free SHS policy and its attendant challenges. The CHASS letter, dated November 13, 2024, proves that schools are struggling under the current inefficient systems in place.
The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress has consistently stated that the implementation of the Free SHS policy has been shambolic and plagued with avoidable challenges, which the ruling NPP government has failed to address.
His stance on Free SHS and the issues surrounding its implementation has been echoed in the latest SOS letter from CHASS to the government. The content of the CHASS letter highlights that schools are struggling and that administrators of public secondary schools are having a tough time managing their institutions due to the government’s poor systems under the Free SHS policy.
Ghana Education News has reviewed critical sections of the SOS letter. Its tone and content should deeply concern Ghanaians, particularly parents whose wards are currently enrolled under the Free SHS program. The ruling NPP government, its presidential candidate Dr. Bawumia, and various education agencies have been accused of failing to demonstrate the highest level of concern for the challenges that have become chronic bottlenecks of the Free SHS policy.
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The NDC believes that a caring Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government would have resolved these challenges long ago. According to verifiable data, the claim that over 5.5 million students have benefited from Free SHS since its introduction under the NPP is false. If 5.5 million students had benefited from Free SHS since 2017, it would mean that at least 687,500 students from Junior High Schools enrolled in Free SHS each year. This is inaccurate because available data from WAEC and GES on students who sat for the BECE from 2017 to date rarely crosses 600,000, and not all such students get placed in or enroll in public SHSs.
The poor and unwholesome food served to students and the recent supply of 22,000 bags of expired rice by the government further worsen the already challenged policy.
Like many Ghanaians, including stakeholders in the education sector, such as CHASS, NAGRAT, EduWatch, IFEST, students, and parents, John Dramani Mahama and the NDC hold the firm belief that the FSHS policy is a good policy but has serious implementation challenges under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government.
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What Mahama’s Plan To Improve And Sustain Free SHS will cover and deal with
Cognisant of the above challenges, and after engaging stakeholders, such as CHASS and NAGRAT on secondary education, the next John Dramani Mahama NDC Government will:
- Abolish the obnoxious double-track system to restore a stable academic calendar;
- Provide a dedicated and sustainable funding source for quality secondary education by ring-fencing a percentage of our oil proceeds;
- Embark on an emergency infrastructure drive to complete abandoned E-blocks and expand infrastructure in existing SHSs and TVET institutions;
- Decentralise the procurement of food and other basic supplies, ensure timely food supply, and improve the quantity and quality of food for students;
- Extend FSHS to cover students in private Senior High Schools;
- Integrate the operations of the Free SHS Secretariat into the Ghana Education Service (GES) to efficiently implement the policy;
- Reform secondary education curricula to integrate STEM, agriculture, vocational skills, digital literacy, civic education, design thinking, and life skills into secondary educational outcomes;
- Introduce specialized Artificial Intelligence labs in selected secondary schools across the sixteen regions;
- Continue our policy of providing free laptops/tablets for SHS students;
- Forge partnerships for the efficient delivery of secondary education, including restoring the role of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and old student associations;
- Strengthen government partnerships with religious bodies in managing mission schools;
- Upgrade existing ICT laboratories and establish new ICT laboratories in Schools without same to promote digital literacy;
- Expand digital libraries to enhance access to global teaching and learning materials for both teachers and learners;
- Expand Science Resource Centres (SRC) across the regions to support STEM/TVET education;
- Review the Computerised School Selection & Placement System (CSSPS) to address corruption in school placement and make it merit-based;
- Implement a policy to upgrade selected secondary schools across the sixteen regions into Grade A schools, and
- Conduct an infrastructural audit to identify gaps and invest in targeted infrastructure to enhance access and quality of education.
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John Dramani Mahama has a proven track record in the area of education and can be trusted to deliver on these promises.