On FREE SHS: Let Them Not Dare

The Minority in Parliament have expectedly rubbished the free SHS as a hoax, a description which is not only laughable but one which exposes the ladies and gentlemen on the other side of the august House.

Attacking the project the way they did a couple of days ago via their trademark press conference, instead of showering plaudits over it, was a mark of desperation. They said it could not come on yet it has in grand style, the expected few challenges notwithstanding, is a definite source of insomnia for them.

It is worthwhile recalling what some prominent opposition elements said when the idea was mooted by Nana Akufo-Addo as a cornerstone of his manifesto.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in 14^th July 2012 said that 'anything free is not quality'. His party scribe Asiedu Nketia on the other hand on 18^th February 2012 said 'Ghana does not need free SHS now'.

We are constrained to find out when Ghana would be primed to be bestowed with a free SHS project. Perhaps what he intended to say was that the project should not be rolled out now because education, sufficient of it, would constitute a hindrance to the vicious propaganda they relish so much; it is a major feature of their campaigns over the years.

It is saddening that such a laudable project would still be subjected to the machinations of the Minority with an ultimate goal of hanging it. If the position of the Minority can be contained, not so however of some persons in the education chain who out of frustration over the cessation of the pecks they are used to making at this time of the academic calendar are sulking and putting all manner of obstacles in the way of the project.

Unfortunately, this is a landmark project which good Ghanaians would not allow to be subjected to such self-seeking manouvres in the name of politics.

We trust that after putting so much into the project the Education Minister and his team would not fold their arms as unscrupulous school heads undertake their diabolic plots.

The free SHS is a cruising train and anybody who stands in its way is bound to be crushed. Let them therefore beware and cope with the reality or forever shut up.

We have had too much of the distractions of killjoys who see nothing good in any project initiated by their political counterparts.

Our children would no longer be used as pawns in the political chess game of selfish politicians.

We entreat the Education Ministry to come up with measures to identify the challenges, created or otherwise, with a view to addressing them.

Headmasters who have unfurled subtle means of fleecing money from parents should not be spared the rod. Yesterday we heard about how such bad headmasters created unnecessary inconveniences for parents and wish to state here and now that Ghanaians have resolved to allow the project to work regardless of bottlenecks placed in its path.