President John Mahama has said that contrary to what his government’s critics anticipated, the Free Senior High School policy has been strengthened.
According to him, contrary to the expectation by members of the opposition New Patriotic Party that his government will cancel the policy, it has rather been enhanced.
“We have strengthened Free SHS by allocating an amount of GHc3.5 billion to the policy this year,” he said on September 10.
The President was addressing journalists at the Jubilee House, his first media encounter since assuming the presidency on January 7.
The Free SHS policy was fully implemented by the NPP administration in 2017. In the lead up to the 2024 elections, then candidate Mahama said he will review the policy if elected.
This was interpreted by the NPP officials and members of the administration as an intention to cancel the policy. But President Mahama said, “measures are in place to improve the feeding aspect of the programme.”
Under the policy, every child in Ghana who qualifies for, and is placed in a public Senior High School for his secondary education will have his/her fees absorbed by the government.
President Mahama also indicated that government will soon identify the way forward for the Agenda 111 projects embarked upon by the previous administration.
“Cabinet is expecting a report from the Minister of Health on the Agenda 111 project to determine the way forward,” he said.
