$500 Million Loan Coming To Finance SHS Infrastructure - Nana Addo

Government through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) is in the process of securing a U$500 million loan to finance the infrastructure of Senior High Schools (SHS).

President Nana Addo Dunkwa Akufo-Addo who announced this at a durbar of chiefs and people of Mankessim on the final day of his four-day tour to the Central Region, assured Ghanaians that 'the Free SHS is here to stay, and it will be a permanent feature of our educational architecture.'

He was responding to concerns by some sections of the public that the Government should have addressed the infrastructural needs of senior high schools before rolling out the Free SHS Policy.

In a sharp rebuttal, Nana Addo indicated that, 'we have taken the first, bold step, because we cannot continue to watch as tens and tens of thousands of qualified Ghanaian children, drop out of school because they cannot afford the fees'

The President assured that the free SHS would continue while Government worked steadily to address all the infrastructural needs of senior high schools.

He appealed to the chiefs and people in the region to support the government's flagship programmes of 'Planting for Food and Jobs' and 'the Free Senior High School' whilst it continued to roll out several programmes to extensively develop the Mfantseman Municipality.

Osagyefo Amanfo Adu VI, Omanhene of Mankessim Traditional Area, commended the President for delivering on his campaign promise and for introducing laudable flagship programmes such as the Planting for Food and jobs and the One District, One Factory initiative.

He implored the President to support the Municipality's 200,000 capacity poultry farm project, which he said would create employment to the teeming youth in Mankessim and its environs.

He said some German investors were ready to invest in the construction of a solar plant at Saltpond but a take-off agreement with the Electricity Company of Ghana, was delaying the process and further appealed to the President to use his good office to quicken the process for the project to take off.

Osagyefo Amanfo Adu urged the government to expedite action on the construction of the irrigation project to enable the people in the Area to undertake agricultural projects.

GNA