Free SHS is good for national development – Nana Obeng Wiabo V

The Chief of Gomoa Nyanyano, Nana Obeng Wiabo V has commended the government for initiating the free Senior High School Education programme.

Speaking at the 4th graduation ceremony of Archfield School at Fijai near Kasoa, at the weekend he said the programme would be beneficial to the country.

About 1.6 million eligible students between the ages of 15-17 years across the country are expected to benefit from government’s Free Senior High School (SHS) policy that is set to begin in September this year.

The Free SHS policy, which will also cover agriculture, vocational and technical institutions at the high school level, is estimated to cost GH¢3.6 billion yearly, analyses by the B&FT has shown.

An estimated 1.7million student, who are eligible to have secondary education in the country, are expected to benefit from the successful implementation of the project.

The country currently has in place the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) that covers primary and junior high education. However, it is estimated that close to 50 per cent of JHS graduates who pass, do not have access into SHS due largely to lack of funds and accessibility.

Currently, there are about 432,780 SHS students in the country per the 2015/16 academic year data, and government spends GH¢2,312 on each student per year.

Nana Wiabo V said as the government was pushing the free SHS agenda it was equally important for it to revisit the teaching of technical and vocational skills at the JHS level.

This he said would help the students to acquire technical and vocational skills which were critical to national development.

He asked parents to complement the efforts of teachers by supporting their children at home, to develop a culture of reading.

He urged parents not to burden their wards too much at home, to enable them to have time to do their homework.

Nana Wiabo V also appealed to parents to prevent their wards from watching films on the television and patronising video centres, but rather push them to concentrate on their books at home.

The Director of the school, Mr Archbold Appiah asked parents to invest more money in their children by paying their school fees early, to enable the school pay the teachers on time.

He called on parents to instill discipline and good character in their wards, and help them in their studies.

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