Gov't receives high marks for bold decision on free SHS

Kumasi, Aug 01, GNA - The government has received high marks for the bold decision to implement the free senior high school (SHS) programme in the coming September.

Advocate for Social Intervention Ghana (ASIG) - a group dedicated to the promotion of social justice, indicated that education was a powerful weapon to fight poverty and that every effort to broaden access was commendable and should be supported by everybody.

This was contained in a press statement issued and signed by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Emmanuel Arthur.

It however, asked that the government took a second look at the aggregate score (cut-off) set for admission of students into the SHS.

The group said the 'bar must not be raised too high' to deny children in rural deprived schools of the opportunity to enjoy the policy.

It noted that children in the private and endowed public schools in the cities and urban areas, whose parents had no problem paying for their education, had over the years been scoring good grades in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

The opposite had been the case for their counterparts in the deprived schools and that was why more space needed to be created for children in these schools.

The group said chance must be created for every child determined to pursue SHS education to live their dream even if that would require parents' having to make a little contribution.

The free SHS policy, it said was a good initiative and care must be taken to ensure that its implementation did not run into any road blocks that could defeat the intended purpose.

GNA

By Dorothy Frances Ward, GNA