NDC MPs are not against proposed Free SHS Bill - Ato Forson

The claim that National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament (MPs) are against a proposed Free Senior High School (SHS) Bill is totally false, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, Minority Leader, has stated.

“There is currently no such bill before Parliament. We cannot oppose a bill that we have not seen,” Dr Forson stated in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency.

“For the records, it was the NDC that birthed the 1992 Constitution which provided the legal framework for the introduction of Free Secondary Education in Ghana.”

He explained it was the NDC that commenced the implementation of the Free SHS program in the year 2015 for all day students in public senior high schools, totalling over 320,000, with a clear plan to expand coverage to include 120,000 boarding students by 2017.

Dr Forson said the position of the NDC on the Free SHS programme was publicly communicated by Mr John Dramani Mahama, the NDC’s flagbearer, was to improve the implementation of the programme and address the challenges bedeviling it through a consultative approach.

“Thus, the NDC will support any legislation or effort aimed at making the Free SHS programme better and sustainable,” Dr Forson said.