GES reviewing Free SHS to determine how much parents can pay – Prof Opoku Amankwah
The Free Senior High School Policy is now being reviewed, according to Prof. Kwasi Opoku Amankwah, director general of the Ghana Education Service (GES).
He reveals that the goal of this exercise is to determine which costs the government may pass along to parents.
“…we can do the analysis and then come up and say that, ok, to give Raymond quality education, it will cost this much. Within that cost, these are the items in the cost.
“Then we will all put it out there and say this item, we can make do of it, and it will not affect quality, this item, I think we can get parents to pay,” he told host of Upfront, Raymond Acquah.
In spite of seeking support from the IMF, the Ministry of Finance stated earlier this month that the policy will not be halted.
However, it was underlined that the IMF would be concerned about a potential financial shortfall as well as the government’s capacity to continue spending.
“Free SHS, the School Feeding programme, among others, are good social intervention programmes and it is the lack of financing and unsustainable debt burdens that could constrain a government’s ability to maintain its level of spending, including social or investment spending.
“In our situation, the IMF may ask Ghana to consider curtailing lower priority or non- productive spending (such as “white elephant” projects) as part of its fiscal adjustment but to preserve priority social spending, including on health and education.” the statement said.
Prof. Amankwah retorted that although a conclusion has not yet been reached, a major goal of the assessment is to create a pricing arrangement that ensures quality.