Toilet turned dormitories: What is the sense in 7 years of Free SHS without infrastructure? – NDC woman asks

Margaret Ansei popularly known as Magoo a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) communication team has criticized the current government's implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy in Ghana.

In advancing her views, she questioned the sense in maintaining a program that after seven years of implementation, lacks necessary infrastructure to accommodate the students.

According to Magoo, the former NDC administration, under President Mahama, invested over 12 million into day schools, aside from E-blocks projects.

Speaking in a panel discussion on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on April 17, 2023, she emphasized that under their administration, a day student paid only GH¢5 in lieu of Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) fee, making education progressively free.

“The NDC under President Mahama has invested over 12 million into day schools aside from the E-blocks. As of the time we were exiting government, a day student's school fee was GH¢5 and even that one was a PTA fee or something.

"But seven years now, if we are still practicing Free SHS and we know it is a good policy and we don’t have the infrastructure to accommodate them, what is the sense in the program?” she said.

She further lamented that despite the policy being a good one, the government has not invested enough in infrastructure development to accommodate the increasing number of students.

“You put up a policy and you’re not putting deep thinking into it, you are not forward-thinking, and you are not looking future,” she added.

The Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak, shared a video from GHANASCO where purported toilet facilities had been turned into sleeping places.

The said video, which has been sighted by GhanaWeb, showed student mattresses, chop boxes, bags, and other student materials in the toilet compartment of a washroom.

Some of the materials and the students could also be seen in the hallway of the washroom.

The GES temporarily suspended the headmaster and senior housemaster of GHANASCO.

According to GES, the school turning a toilet into an accommodation facility is unacceptable since records indicate that the school is supposed to have excess accommodation capacity for 300 students.

In a statement issued on Sunday, April 16, 2023, the GES indicated that the headmaster and the housemaster have been suspended pending an investigation into the matter, which is expected to last two weeks.

The Free SHS policy was implemented in 2017 to provide free education to all eligible Ghanaian students. The policy has been hailed as a significant achievement in the education sector, but the lack of adequate infrastructure remains a major challenge.



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AM/SARA