Austin Gamey To Government: Free SHS Must Target Only The Poor

The Labour expert, Austin Gamey wants the government to review some of its flagship programmes, especially the Free Senior High School (SHS) education to target only the poor.

Ghana is currently engaging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to agree on a bailout plan at a time when its public finances have taken a big hit from COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.

Appearing on Asaase 99.5 Accra’s morning show on Tuesday (12 July), Gamey said the government must restructure the Free SHS programme before the Fund makes such demand.

“We are in a vulnerable situation,” Gamey told the host of The Asaase Breakfast Show, Kwaku Nhyira-Addo. “So, should we continue with the Free Senior High School [education] the way it is, should we not target it, and let people who are in the middle class or so be able to pay for their children school fees.”

 

“Why do we have to pay for everybody,” he asked. “Somebody who is in the poverty bracket which we have data on, should be targeted and government pay for them.”

“Is it compulsory that we should build all the Agenda 111 projects? If we don’t have the capacity to do it, it is not compulsory that we should do it, and no one will blame the government for it.”
Allow rich parents to pay for fees under Free SHS

 

Meanwhile, Dr John Kwakye, the director of research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) also wants the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme to be reviewed.

According to Kwakye, this could help lessen the fiscal pressure on the government in the wake of the economic challenges facing the country.

 

“I am not against Free SHS because human capital creates fiscal capital… but if some people can afford its payment then let them pay or we can even do cost-sharing,” the economist said on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Thursday (16 June).

“Why is the government taking care of all these responsibilities? Is it because it wants to be popular? The purse is not limitless,” Kwakye told Kwaku Nhyira-Addo.

 

He added: “It really makes no sense why the government is so adamant to pay [the fees of the wards of] parents who want to make the payment themselves.”

The director of research at IEA wants the government to seriously consider reviewing the Free SHS programme.

“This government made so many promises in order to win power and now that it realises that their implementation is not easy … I really wish government would take a second look at them.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Source: Asaase Radio