The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta, has refuted claims the government’s flagship programmes, Free Senior High School (Free SHS) and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes are under review.
According to him, although the programmes were facing some challenges government is committed to taking the necessary steps to resolve the problems to enable the programmes run smoothly.
Mr Ofori Atta’s comment comes after several media reportage suggested that the programme was under review as part of the economic bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
But delivering the 2022 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Monday, July 25, the Finance Finance Minister noted that government is keen to improve upon the programmes.
“We shall not compromise on President’s commitment to giving all our children the opportunity to be educated from kindergarten to university, without the ability to pay being a hindrance.”
“Free Secondary and TVET education are not under review. We will continue to fund them and we will continue to improve them,” he said.
He added “It has been at the core of our national transformation efforts since 2017. we have invested GHC5.3 billion to enable 1,261,495 Ghanaian children to access to secondary education under the Free SHS programme at the end of 2021 to improve access to education.”
“Out of the 571,892 registered JHS candidates, 555,353, representing 97.1 percent, were placed into SHS this year.”
Commenting on the recent food challenges facing the second cycle institutions in the country, the Finance Minister said government has engaged stakeholders in finding a lasting solutions to the problems.
“In response, we have engaged stakeholders and devised a programme that ensures that schools will not be disrupted, and our students are well-fed.”
