The government's pro-poor education strategy has been tarnished by corruption and inefficiency-ASEPA.

Mr. Mensah Thompson, the Executive Director of the Alliance For Social Equity And Public Accountability (ASEPA), disclosed that the government's pro-poor education strategy has been tarnished by corruption and inefficiency. 

The Alliance For Social Equity And Public Accountability (ASEPA) conducted a statewide poll to learn more about the issues that the Free Senior High School (FSHS) program is facing. 

During their study, ASEPA found many main issues facing the FSHS program. 

These difficulties have the potential to cause the program to collapse shortlysah Thompson, the Executive Director of ASEPA, called on the government to take quick action to remedy the situation at a press conference to address these issues. 

Some heads of schools, he claims, are milking the state through the scheme by filling vacancies without the knowledge of the authorities. 

When students dropped out of the program or transferred schools in their second or third year, these heads of schools stepped in to fill the void. 

According to the Executive Director, these secondary school heads accept new pupils and keep the money while the state continues to finance the previous number of students registered during admission. 

Mr. Mensah Thompson goes on to say that these operations are concentrated in the Greater Accra, Eastern, and Bono regions. 

Another issue recognized by ASEPA was the lack of a cut-off point that would automatically admit every Junior High School student to the program. 

To this end, he advocated that an aggregate of at least 30 should be the minimum condition for entrance into the Free Senior High School program, with unsuccessful candidates being placed in a special TVET program. 

"This is a scholarship program for outstanding but disadvantaged students, and each award has a limit on the number of recipients it may support. So even if you're not bright, you can still benefit from the program by learning specialized skills," he explained. 

"Because there is no cut-off point, all students are enrolled in the program, and quantity takes precedence over quality," he explained. 

"Those entered and failed in their first year, their parents or guardians should be forced to pay the balance of the tuition until their wards pick up and return to the program," Mr. Thompson recommended.