Funding for free SHS will be in 2015 budget – Mahama

President John Mahama has said the source of funding for, and details of the free Senior High School (SHS) policy which starts from the 2015/2016 academic year will be fully explained in the 2015 budget.

The president’s clarification was a response to some reports that said Education Minister Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang had said she did not know where funding for the policy will be sourced.

Cutting the sod for the construction of the first 50 of 200 Senior High Schools promised by his government, President Mahama said the arguments surrounding the source of funding are unnecessary.

“I want to inform those who want to know where the money is coming from that they should wait for the presentation of the 2015 budget.

“If they look in the budget and they don’t find allocation for free SHS, then they can raise that issue”, the president stressed, adding that: “I hope that this response puts to rest any unnecessary argumentation surrounding the minister of education”.

The free SHS policy has been estimated by the Government to cost approximately Ghc71 million.