Free SHS will not be touched in our negotiations with the IMF – Osafo-Maafo
Yaw Osafo-Maafo, a senior adviser to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has allayed the fears of some Ghanaians in regards to the ‘Free SHS’ policy.
He said Ghana’s current negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout will not affect the popular policy.
He disclosed at an event in Accra on Monday, October 10, that the programme and social interventions in the education sector, in general, will not be impacted by ongoing negotiations.
“If there is any sector that we should not touch the expenditure, that sector is education. Because we are protecting the potential use of our resources in a very efficient and effective manner.
“So, if you touch education, you are undermining your own development paradigm. So, that is not the area to go when you decide to cut expenditure,” he stressed.
On the Free SHS policy, he pointed out how political opponents “fan their support base by pointing out the amount of money the government will save if the Free SHS is abolished.
“People have written and I have read in the papers arguing that one of the first things IMF should look at as they admit us into the IMF programme is to cut the Free SHS. Let me tell you here and now, we are negotiating with the IMF and Free SHS will not be touched, we cannot touch it,” he stressed.
He pointed out further that the IMF as an institution was pro-poor adding that free High School education was a social intervention that is being enjoyed across the Western world.
“The IMF itself as an institution is pro-poor, the IMF itself believes in education so how can IMF ask you to cut Free SHS? Don’t you have Free SHS in America, don’t you have Free SHS in Germany, don’t you have it in Europe?
“Most of the developed world has Free High School, so we are taking the right path towards development and I can assure you that the IMF will not touch the Free SHS,” he stated.
The Free SHS programme has become topical in recent times with the government seeking a programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), amid an economic downturn.
source: pulse.com.gh
