Government, in accordance with dictates of the 1992, is to commence preparation for the implementation of free secondary education policy for the 2015-2016 academic years.
As a result, the Ministry of Education is drawing up the requisite plans and stakeholder consultations on the implementation of the policy has commenced.
President John Mahama who announced this on Tuesday during his delivery of the State of the Nation Address, said cabinet was waiting to be presented with a roadmap for approval and implementation.
He said the move would lessen the difficulties parents went through to pay for their wards education and would further enhance the quest for free education in the country.
“Under the guidance of this roadmap, we can anticipate that fees for day students will be abolished at an estimated cost of GHc71 million in 2015/2016 academic year,” he said.
The announcement by the President was greeted with cheers from the majority side but the Minority instantly went ballistic, raining expletives on the president for “daring to steal their idea”.
Free secondary education become a pivotal issue in the last presidential elections, as the aspirant of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akuffo Addo campaigned singularly on providing free senior secondary education for Ghanaians.
The Ruling National Democratic Congress derided that argument, insisting that free secondary education was not feasible and was not the panacea to Ghana’s myriad economic problems.
“Tweea”, shouted the back-bench minority legislators in unison, throwing the House in fits of delirium, as the majority looked at the opposites with contempt for embarrassment to the President in such manner.
But President Mahama, unperturbed by the heckling, announced that construction would start by early March on the first batch of the 200 community schools that his government promised to put up.