Deputy Education Minister Dr. Clement Apaak has commended President John Dramani Mahama for the impressive and significant allocation he has made towards the implementation of the free Senior High School policy.
He said contrary to claims by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the President was not committed to the policy, he has demonstrated his commitment through the highest allocation ever made for the policy.
Dr. Apaak, who is the Builsa South Member of Parliament, noted that the President was ridiculed by his political opponents when he promised to review the policy and make it better.
But the presentation of the 2025 budget statement has proven them wrong because, since the policy started, the allocation made this year remains the highest.
This has also been confirmed by Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Mr. Kofi Asare.
Mr. Asare, in a post on Facebook, noted that the GHC 3.5 billion allocation for the free SHS was the highest ever and represented a 30% increase of the allocation made in the 2024 budget.
In his response, Dr. Apaak said the President has proven that the free SHS policy has come to stay and will not be scrapped. He maintained that reviewing the policy does not mean cancelling it, but rather making it better.
His post on X formerly Twitter read: “President John Dramani Mahama has made the highest allocation to FSHS ever. Independent education sector think tanks affirm. President Mahama has proven through his budget that free SHS has come to stay. Review cannot and would never mean cancel”.
Background
During the presentation of the 2025 Budget Statement and economic policy in Parliament on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson disclosed that the government is uncapping the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to ensure sustainable funding for free secondary education.
He announced that removing the cap on GETFund, paved the way for the government to secure a dedicated financial source to fully support secondary education and other critical educational programmes.
“Mr Speaker, the overarching concern about free secondary education has been its quality and the absence of a dedicated source of funding. H.E President John Mahama has resolved the funding challenge by uncapping the GETFund. This makes available dedicated funds for the full financing of free secondary education and free tertiary education for Persons with Disability (PWDs),” he stated.
“Mr Speaker, this year the budget for the free secondary education programme is GH¢3.5 billion. By uncapping the GETFund, we will be making available an additional GH¢4.1 billion to the GETFund, specifically for the financing of the free secondary education programme and other related expenditures.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
