Free SHS: ‘Parents Who Can Pay Fees Must Do So’ – Otumfuo Says
The Overlord of the Asante Kingdom, His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has backed the review of the Free Senior High School Programme (FSHS) policy.
According to him, parents and guardians who can afford to pay fees should be made to do so.
He made this plea when Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, paid a courtesy call on him at the Manhyia Palace.
“Those who can afford to pay, let’s have a second look at the policy. If someone can afford it, let’s allow them to pay. In the old times, when you have passed, the bursary would look for good but needy students and award them scholarship and those who could afford to pay did so”, the Asantehene advised.
He added the Free SHS policy must be streamlined to improve the students’ living conditions stating “this Free SHS we are talking about, although we have implemented it, if we have a dialogue and find out that it will result in students coming home every now and then because there is no food, then it is not fit for purpose”.
“Let us implement it well so that students will stay in school and have enough to eat”, he urged.
The King also raised concerns over the infrastructural and logistics challenges in the various schools and hoped the government will address those challenges.
“Our dormitories are overcrowded, lack of science and ICT labs. Sometimes PTA makes contributions to support. Lack of school buses and shortage of food should all be looked at”, he noted.
He however commended the government for trying to cut down expenditure to make room for relevant projects to be established.
“The building of E-Blocks and some schools have indeed stalled because of inadequate funding, but like the government is saying, by cutting down waste in government expenditure we can accumulate those moneys and continue such projects.”
On Science and technology, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II stressed the importance of expanding STEM education emphasizing “every village needs it. Some people in the villages, given the opportunity, would love to learn science. If we do all of these, there will be progress”.
The Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy, a flagship initiative introduced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s administration in 2017, aims to provide equal educational opportunities to all children in Ghana.
Source: Ghmessenger.com
