Free SHS worthwhile, transformative, despite being labelled by detractors as a mere political slogan – Akufo-Addo
![](https://cdn.classfmonline.com/cfoZ41e/imagelib/thumbs/92642774.jpg)
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said though his government’s flagship programme, the free Senior High School (SHS) policy might be labelled by its detractors as a mere political slogan which must be demonised, the programme has transformed the lives of Ghanaians who otherwise would have stopped school at the Junior High School (JHS) level.
According to the President, in the past 7 years since he has been president, he has met many people, young and old across the country who have told him “about the first person in their families and in their communities to have gone to Senior High School.”
He noted that not being able to go to secondary school for “lack of money was so widespread and an accepted phenomenon that it led to some people thinking Senior High School was not meant for them or their children or for people from their village, and, therefore, a child in the family finishing Junior High School and moving on to Senior High School was simply not factored in their expectations.
“Free SHS might be labelled by its detractors as a mere political slogan that must be demonised, but it is, in fact, a transformative programme that has broken myths and liberated minds. It is humbling on the one hand and frightening on the other, to think of the sheer number of talents that Free SHS has unearthed that would otherwise have ended their formal education at BECE.”
President Akufo-Addo is confident that the country will get more “engineers, doctors, architects, scientists, writers and poets out of the increased numbers of those attending Senior High School, who will go on to further education.”
He emphasised that even if they stop at SHS, one can only imagine what “a million more Secondary School educated young people will do to our self-confidence and the value of our workforce. That, alone, makes Free SHS worthwhile.”
President Akufo-Addo was speaking at the State of the Nation Address in Parliament, on Tuesday, 27 February 2024.
Source: classfmonline.com/Elikem Adiku
Trending News
Bawumia-Napo ticket good for NDC – Asiedu Nketia
09:37Dec polls: Voting on Saturday doesn't align with our beliefs – SDA
05:39We’ve received your petition to probe Ofori-Atta, Ghana Auto Group Ltd – OSP to Ablakwa
12:27Dec Polls: Asiedu Nketia questions ECOWAS, AU over Akufo-Addo’s influence on key election institutions
08:53Bredi community to vote for NPP due to Gideon Boako's dev't initiatives
13:50Nii Lante takes on Koku Anyidoho over Atta Mills’ remembrance 12 years on
11:21A/R: Court remands 13 for illegal mining in Jimmirah forest reserve
06:08'I represent the whole country, marshal, take him out' – Speaker Bagbin orders Sefwi-Wiawso MP out of the chamber
05:39A/R: Verify social media info before broadcasting or publishing it – NMC chair to journalists
11:19Tesano: Akufo-Addo hands over 320 housing units to Police Service
06:02