Kufuor: Time for free SHS is now, NDC’s excuse unacceptable

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Created on Saturday, 15 September 2012 00:00

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Kufuor: Time for free SHS is now, NDC’s excuse unacceptable

14 September 2012

Former president John Agyekum Kufuor has asked voters to ignore people who doubt the feasibility of the New Patriotic Party (NPP’s) free senior high school policy.

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Members of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) have been at the forefront casting doubt on the feasibility of the policy.

Recently, Education Minister Lee Ocran said it was impossible to make SHS education free using the NPP’s proposed GHS 78 million. The NPP proposes the amount as an additional cost for first term of the 2013/2014 academic year but the Education Minister treated it as the entire cost for the period and proceeded to berate the proposition. He said that amount was woefully inadequate and raised questions of inadequate infrastructure, insisting the policy impracticable.

But Mr Kufuor, speaking in an exclusive interview with Joy News, said the governing party lacked the moral right to raise issues of infrastructure to justify their argument that the project was not viable.

This, he said, was because the NDC lost the opportunity to provide these infrastructures during its longs years of rule.

The former president urged Ghanaians to embrace the policy because it will help solve problems of youth unemployment and teenager prostitution.

“Talk of developing infrastructure, the people who are talking like this they are not first timers in government, they had a long stretch of government. Why didn’t they develop infrastructure?”

“So when Nana Addo talks that its time to run the SHS free, he knows what he is doing and I believe he knows and I am supporting him.”

Mr Kufuor continued that the free SHS policy “is not just a dreamy thing he’s [Nana Addo] talking about. He is talking about a very well-taught out, solid, costed policy and the time to do it is now.”

From:Dorcas Efe Mensah/Myjoyonline.com