“No Charging Of Illegal Or Unapproved Fees” – President Akufo-Addo To SHS Heads
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says no
headmaster or headmistress of any Senior High School in the country is
to charge any unapproved or illegal fees, or charge fees already
exempted under the Free SHS policy.
According to President
Akufo-Addo, he knows there are a handful of reactionary elements in the
country who are determined to undermine the Free SHS policy.
He
recounted how Government, together with the Ghana Education Service and
the Council and the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools,
has agreed to absorb all senior high school fees under the Free SHS
policy.
“No headmaster or headmistress, therefore, is to charge
any unapproved or illegal fees, or charging fees already exempted under
the free SHS policy. Government will make sure of this, and sanction any
school head who flouts this directive,” he said.
The President
continued, “We have a sacred duty to our children, and to the
generations beyond, in ensuring that, irrespective of their
circumstances, their right to an education is preserved.”
President Akufo-Addo made this known on Saturday, 17th February, 2018,
when he attended the 60th anniversary celebration of Pope John Senior
High School and Minor Seminary, in Koforidua, in the Eastern Region.
Addressing a gathering of staff, students and alumni of the school, the
President indicated that a government may not be able to make every
citizen rich, but with political will and responsible leadership, a
government can help create a society of opportunities and empowerment
for every citizen.
“I know no better way to do so but through
access to education. Any country, that aims to transform itself into a
modern productive player in the global marketplace, must get its
educational policies right,” the President said.
He noted that citizens can only make informed choices, if they are empowered with the capacity to make those choices.
Education, he added, is a key to human development, transforming a
country, widening life's options for individuals and society as a whole,
and is a tool for the development of the nation and of a healthy
democracy.
It is for this reason, the President stressed, that on 12th September, 2017, he launched the Free Senior High School policy.
“It is public knowledge now that, prior to the launch of the Free SHS
policy, our children were falling out of the educational system at every
stage in alarming numbers. Free SHS has enabled 90,000 more students
gain access to Senior High School education in 2017, than in 2016,” the
President indicated.
Without the implementation of this policy,
he explained that the spectre of 90,000 young men and women, without any
employable skills, and thrown onto the streets, would have further
entrenched a future of hopelessness for Ghana’s youth.
Addressing the teething challenges confronting the Free SHS policy, the
President told the gathering that procurement processes are currently
on-going for the award of contracts for the provision of some 69,500
mono desks, 13,100 bunk beds, furniture for dining halls, staff rooms of
teachers, computer laboratories, and the provision of marker boards for
classrooms.
“Again, funding has been secured for the expansion
and upgrading of facilities in 75 Senior High Schools across the
country, with construction works on the existing Community Day Schools
ongoing. Government, beginning this year, will also upgrade 42 Senior
High Schools into model school status,” he said.
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