body-container-line-1

Funding The Free SHS

Feature Article Funding The Free SHS
SEP 22, 2017 LISTEN

Democracy is a form of government, but it is based on ethics. At any rate, real democracy can flourish only in an atmosphere of kindness and affection and benevolence (Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia.)

The Free Senior High School education has come, it was greeted with ecstasies, initial doubts and incredulous in some cases. Challenges find themselves in every human endeavour, they are present in this new programme, creating very fertile grounds for the doubting Thomases and those with political lenses which see nothing good in the government to exaggerate the challenges and elevate them to heights far above the reality. The policy has managed to get started but still needs sharpening the rough edges.

The beginning of every academic year is a challenging one for parents, beginning with placements and admissions of wards, particularly, in this era of computer placements. My generation did not go through this hustling to get placed; the opportunities for many were blocked primarily because of financial reasons. In those days, even after the schools had done their selections out of the Common Entrance Examinations results and the choices of the candidates, many schools conducted what was called “The Late Entrance Examinations”.

These were done to offer openings to those who did not write the Common Entrance Examinations or did not initially make up their minds to enter Secondary Schools; they could also be those who did not pass the Common Entrance Exams itself. They were conducted by the schools themselves to fill existing vacancies. These opportunities notwithstanding, a huge number of my generation did not have the opportunity of entering Secondary or Technical schools then, after the Middle School education.

Ever since the Free SHS programme begun, I have read a number of posts on the social media by people who were making references to their classmates in secondary schools who had to drop out for financial reasons. One of such examples was given by my younger brother and my very good friend's son, Mr. Egbert Faible jnr. Dan Kweku Yeboah of Peace FM fame has also shared his experiences and the challenges he had to go through to access secondary education, and James Annan, a columnist in this paper. There are more untold or unknown stories about people whose education had to terminate because of financial reasons, and in many instances, they are very brilliant pupils or students as it were.

A huge number of my mates of 35 who completed the Oponso L/A Catholic Middle School in the now Upper Denkyira East Municipality way back in 1974, could not continue their education. If my memory will not fail me, three of us among those who passed the Common Entrance Examination entered secondary school. Two others found their way to the then Teacher Training Colleges. It cannot be concluded that all the rest were not qualified to have taken advantage of the post-Middle School educational institutions available at the time. The barrier was financial incapability.

My story is such a sad one. I had passed the Common Entrance on three consecutive times, beginning from Form 2 with excellent results but could not make it. Knowing my state, I had always chosen a school close to me in the hope that in the worst case scenario, I could enter as a Day Student, but that was not to be. The then Headmaster of the School apparently had been observing my performances and was expecting to see me take up the position offered me.

When my third exams, in which I surpassed the previous ones, came, and I was still not going to the school to pay the deposit of ¢10.00, he wrote and invited me to see him in his office to find out why I had not been taking the offer from the school. Unknown to me, I had had Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) scholarships in the previous years and that I was going to be offered another this time again. This is how I entered the then Dunkwa Secondary School, now Boa-Amponsem SHS.

That did not end my financial woes though as subsequent events nearly pushed me out of school, once again the state, through the Scholarship Secretariat, came to my aid. There were thousands of generations before me who lost out of post-Middle School education, still a huge size of my generation, and a much higher population after my generation who did not go beyond basic education because of financial difficulties and not the absence of accessibility.

This is the first time that any government has had the courage to address this chronic but hidden problem that suppresses the future of otherwise brilliant children of this country. Their only crime is that they were born poor by people who themselves perhaps were born poor. If no serious intervention as the Free SHS comes their way, they may remain poor and give birth to children who may also be poor.

Having embraced this Nobel Winning Award Policy of making SHS education, including Technical and Vocational accessible to all those who desire them, we must now all bring ideas to ensure the sustainability of the programme bearing in mind that the numbers are going to increase year after year and therefore the budget allocations are going to have a toll on other pressing needs of the nation.

What we should all bear in mind is the fact that, the policy is not limited to the payment of just the school fees, the infrastructure for effective learning and teaching need to be put in place for the benefit of our children and the teachers and managers of our schools. As a people, how are we going to support the government directly or indirectly to ensure the success of this programme for our collective good? Don't think that the opposition is not happy. But for this policy, almost all the Members of Parliament would be going round looking for funds to meet the numerous calls and visits from their constituents to support their wards to enter the Secondary Schools. They are relieved even as they 'point out the challenges' albeit mischievously.

I can say with a certain level of certainty that the GETfund, a body set up to help provide educational infrastructure among others to improve education generally in the country, is saddled with a huge debt in respect of contracts awarded over the past eight years. Some are completed but unpaid while others have been abandoned by the contractors for reasons of non-payment for work done.

Prudent management practices require that completed jobs are paid while ongoing projects in the educational sector are completed for use before new ones are initiated. What this means is that GETfund may not be in a position to meet the immediate infrastructural needs to support the Free SHS programme. It is my humble suggestion therefore that we look at areas where we can make very modest contributions towards the programme.

One area Ghanaians spend money virtually every day without complaining is the mobile telephony sector. My last information about the patronage of Ghanaians indicated that about 15 million of the populace have and use mobile phones.

A modest GH¢0.10 deduction on recharge card for 5 million people who recharge their cards every day will generate GH¢500, 000. In 20 days, this will generate GH¢ 10,000,000. In a year, this translates to GH¢120, 000, 000. I am sure anybody who talks about an insignificant levy increase on petroleum products will attract protestations, but levying GH¢0.05 on a litre of petrol or diesel for the purposes of funding SHS, will not generate public outcry, GH¢0.23 on a gallon

We can also look at liquefied petroleum gas as a source of funding for the Free SHS. Next year will see an increase in student population under the programme with its attendant pressure on infrastructure. Our modest contributions towards the programme will see improvement and expansion of educational facilities for our kids.

What we missed, we should give it to our children, what we had, we should make it better. Four tots of my bitters, Daavi.

[email protected]

body-container-line