It will cost Ghana an amount of 78 million cedis to implement the much touted free Second High School education in the 2013-14 academic year.
The amount represents less than one per cent of the country’s GDP.
This was disclosed by the New Patriotic Party flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo when he took his turn at the Institute of Economic Affairs Evening Encounter, Tuesday.
“The additional cost of providing free senior high school will be around one per cent of Ghana’s GDP. The cost of providing Free Secondary School Education which includes tuition, boarding, feeding and all the other charges for the 2013-14 Academic Year is estimated at a 0.1 per cent of our GDP. This translates into some 78 million Ghana cedis,” Nana Addo stated.
He said the party has also made provision for the monumental cost that will come with the increase in enrollment should the free SHS policy be implemented.
“We have made provision for a major increase in enrollment as a result of admitting all JHS students into SHS in 2014-15.
“We expect the cost to rise to 288 million cedis which is 0.3 per cent of GDP in that academic year and increase to 774 million cedis in 2015-16, [which] is 0.7 per cent of GDP.
He said additional expenditure on teachers, cost of infrastructure, teachers and establishing cluster of schools will bring the total cost to 755 million cedis, 0.9 per cent of GDP and rise to 1.45 billion cedis which is 1.3 per cent of GDP in 2016.
He said a “free SHS will increase the total education expenditure from 4.1 per cent of GDP in 2011 to 5.8 per cent by 2016, a figure which will still be below the UNESCO minimum of six per cent.”
Some think tanks, especially IMANI Ghana as well as government spokespersons have described as unrealistic the implementation of the policy but Nana Addo told a crowd that included NPP party bigwigs, civil society groups, members of the diplomatic corps that it is a hugely feasible programme with a higher cost to Ghanaians if not implemented.
The ultimate goal of the NPP in education Nana Addo stressed is to remove the biggest obstacles which are cost and access to education with a view to making all children of school going age have access to compulsory education to the SHS level.
On health, the NPP flagbearer also promised to restructure the National Health Insurance Scheme which he said is crumbling under the ruling NDC.
More soon;