The leader of the opposition in Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson has declared support for any legislation on the Free SHS programme as the government readies to submit a bill to the House that would make the policy binding for successive governments.
The claim that NDC MPs are against a proposed Free SHS Bill is totally false.
There is currently no such bill before Parliament. We cannot oppose a bill that we have not seen.
For the records, it was the NDC that birthed the 1992 Constitution which provided the legal framework…
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— Cassiel Ato Forson(PhD) (@Cassielforson) June 12, 2024
The proposal was only announced on Tuesday by the Majority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin who says the legislation would now allow the regulation of the programme.
‘There’s a need to enact a law to regulate same. And in doing so, it would have been given life, in the sense that a court of law can rely on it to make certain orders and give actions. This Free SHS bill if consider as a House, what that means is that it becomes mandatory for governments to implement this,” Markin said to the press ahead of a parliamentary meeting.
But not everyone is enthused about the proposed legislation. Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe criticised the proposal, calling it unnecessary. Education think-tank, Africa Education Watch also had similar views.
“I am a bit lost because in December 2020 Parliament passed a law called the Pre Tertiary Education Law which is Act 10(49). This law which was assented on 29th December 2020 has free SHS captured under section 3. Â think that perhaps the only reason is, it is a legacy reason. It looks more political legacy kind of style,” Kofi Asare, Director of Africa Education Watch said on Citi FM.
The Free SHS programme which started in 2017 as a major policy by the ruling government has encountered many challenges putting a strain on the public curse. Initially, the problems had been about lack of accommodation and inadequate school facilities to house the high enrolments.
But quite recently reports indicate that it’s now about a food crisis. In March, a Joy News investigative documentary by Kwetey Nartey confirmed long-standing fears that senior high schools had been facing acute food shortages.
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