No student in any Free Senior High School (Free SHS) is having difficulty obtaining meals, according to Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu.
He blamed this on the government’s order for the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to take in GHS 4.2 billion so that the program could function properly.
He stated in an interview with TV3 on Thursday, February 5, “No student in any Free SHS is struggling to get food to eat because the President directed that GETFund should absorb GHS 4.2 billion. Even though there is a formula which was approved by Parliament last year, an allocation of GHS 4.2 billion has been made to support Free SHS.”
Haruna Iddrisu also disclosed that the Education Ministry is receiving $300 million from the World Bank to upgrade several category “C” schools to “B” and “B” schools to “A.”
This is a component of the education sector’s reforms.
“The World Bank supports the Education Ministry with $300 million to convert a number of category ‘C’ schools to ‘B’ and ‘B’ schools to ‘A’,” he stated.
The Mahama administration will make significant investments in basic education, according to Haruna Iddrisu.
He pointed out that investing in basic education is necessary if you want to receive a proper education, which is why the government decided to provide the sector more funding.
“Everywhere in the world, if you want to get your education right, you must invest in basic education. The President hinted at that in the State of the Nation Address.
“So now, government policy realigns investment and allocations of financial resources more in favour of basic education,”he said.
Haruna Iddrisu lambasted the former Akufo-Addo administration for failing to provide sufficient facilities for the Free SHS scheme.
In 2017, the Free SHS scheme was introduced by the Akufo-Addo administration.
The school sector lacked the infrastructure necessary to handle the rise in enrolment, according to Haruna Iddrisu.
“Free Senior High School was launched, but the previous government failed to provide expanded infrastructure and lecture halls to accommodate the exponential increase in student numbers,” stated Haruna Iddrisu.
The Mahama administration’s plans for free education were further disclosed by Haruna Iddrisu.
“We want to introduce free education for all persons with special needs, provide them with the necessary assistive devices, and increase the feeding grant from GHS 8 to GHS 15.” he stated.
“We must work towards de-boardinization, and the focus should be on rural and peri-urban areas, while in urban areas we focus on reducing boardinization,” the minister stated in reference to educational changes.
Source: newsthemegh.com