'Anyone who tells you I’ll scrap free SHS is a bloody liar' – Mahama

Mahama says he is only against the 'poor implementation of the free SHS'

'Anyone who tells you I’ll scrap free SHS is a bloody liar' – Mahama
John Mahama

Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama has dismissed speculations that he will abolish the free senior high school policy instituted by President Nana Akufo-Addo, when he wins power.

Speaking at the Dagbon Overlord’s palace during a courtesy call on the Ya Na , the former president said: “Free Senior High School education has come to stay”.

“If anybody tells you that I, John Dramani Mahama, son of E.A Mahama, will abolish Free SHS when I come, tell the person he is a bloody liar”, he insisted.

 

According to him, “What I am against is the poor implementation of the free SHS, which is creating great inconvenience for the parents, for the students and for the teachers and the point I have made is that we can make it better.”

“If this government had followed our plan of continuing with the 200 new Senior High Schools that we were building, we will not have the current situation that we have in our free SHS plan”, he said.
Commenting on the recent riots by students writing the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), Mr Mahama said students were acting ‘that way’’ because the Akufo-Addo government has politicised their education.

Mahama who condemned the students' riots and vandalism, however noted tha,t the President labelling these batch of SHS finalists as ‘Akufo-Addo graduates’ has been a major causative of the problem.

 

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“When you politicise our education system, this is what you will see”, Mr Mahama asserted.

“The candidates are not anyone’s candidates; they are our candidates”, he said.

“When students completed under President Rawlings, they were not ‘Rawlings candidates’; when they completed under President Kufuor, they were not ‘Kufour candidates’; when they completed under President Mills, they were not ‘Mills candidates’; when they completed under Mahama, they were not ‘Mahama candidates’,” the former President observed when he visited the Ya Na’s palace in the Northern Region to introduce himself as the flag bearer of the NDC.

Mr Mahama promised that his next government will ensure that students are well-prepared to pass their WASSCE as he did as President together with his then-Minister of Education, Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who is now his running mate.

In Mr Mahama’s view, the Akufo-Addo government has watered down the quality of Ghana’s education, especially at the second cycle level.