The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is a threat to the survival and development of the flagship programme, Free Senior High School.
According to the NPP, their opponent had no moral purity to seek to share the glory that has come with the implementation of the policy by the Akufo-Addo government.
The National Youth Organiser of the NPP, Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B), addressing the media yesterday at the usual The Youth Must Know Series, stripped Mahama and the NDC naked on the free SHS banter.
“Candidate Mahama’s attempt to associate himself with the Free SHS policy is driven by ill-faith, deception, and opportunism borne out of his innate tendencies to harvest what he didn’t sow. Evidence abounds that Mr. Mahama and the NDC have opposed and worked tirelessly to obstruct and disrupt the implementation of the Free SHS policy from 2008 to date,” he said.
Nana B, in a move to refresh memories, cataloged a few of the many attacks launched by the NDC against the Free SHS policy, before and after its implementation by President Akufo-Addo.
He said candidate Mahama, on November 23, 2012, told the people of Okere in the Eastern Region that the Free SHS would collapse the education system of Ghana.
Mr. Mahama, Nana B noted, was on record to have said in 2016 that “Ghana cannot introduce Free SHS on the whimsical promise of a desperate politician. Many mistakes have been made by countries in Africa already with free SHS.”
Nana B quizzed whether it was not extremely strange that Mahama, who supposedly introduced Free SHS in 2015, would turn around to launch a lethal campaign against the same policy.
“Who in his right frame of mind would introduce a policy in 2015, and a year down the line, speak vehemently against same policy? It doesn’t add up,” Nana B opined.
“Again, candidate Mahama, on October 1, 2018, reiterated his aversion to Free SHS, stating that it will undergo a review, and hinted on the possibility of the policy being scrapped, because, to him, it is unthinkable to spend GH¢2 billion on free SHS, and that it is seriously constricting [the] government’s budget.”
Mr. Mahama, on November 25, 2017, stated that “Lalasulala Free SHS will fail.” The then Minister of Education, Lee Ocran, on 10th September, 2012, said ”Free SHS can only be possible in 2032, in 20 years’ time.”
He continued: “From the few examples given, it is evident that the Mr. Mahama and his NDC party have always been against the Free SHS policy introduced by President Akufo-Addo.
“Fellow Youth, under the holistic and impactful Free SHS policy of President Akufo-Addo, tuition is free; admission fee is free; library fee is free; science center is free; computer lab fee is free; utility fee is free; textbooks are free; boarding fee is free; nutritious meals are given for free to both boarding and day students.”
Making a case for the retaining of his candidate, President Akufo-Addo, Nana B alluded that because of the competent leadership of President Akufo-Addo, a whopping 1.2 million students have benefited from the life-changing Free SHS/TVET policy.
He added that about 100,000 students had been granted both local and foreign scholarships, and thousands of Akufo-Addo graduates would benefit from scholarships under the auspices of the Scholarship Secretariat.
“The 76 factories under the One District One Factory programme have created a staggering 18,811 direct and 120,520 indirect jobs for the youth. Upon completion of the remaining 156 factories, which are at various stages of completion, hundreds of thousands of jobs will be created,” he remarked.
He rallied the youth of Ghana to vote massively for President Akufo-Addo, come December 7, to protect the Free SHS policy, trainees’ allowances, Nation Builders Corps (NABCO), One District One Factory, Planting for Food and Jobs, a Working Scholarship Scheme, and the many life-changing policies and programmes of the government.
The post NDC is a threat to Free SHS -NPP youth appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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