General News of Thursday, 21 December 2017
Source: George Sarpong
2017-12-21
Dr Opoku-Prempeh
The Education Minister, Dr Opoku-Prempeh during an NPP political talk show on home-base TV has spelt out some policies his ministry plans to embark on.
He cited ideas of soon undertaking the ‘Northern Grant’ initiative which is structured to encourage quality education in the Northern region.
“The scholarship secretariat which operates under the office of the President has been busy since we assumed office because a lot was on our table. This accounts for budgetary allocation of the sector being mostly high. The northern grant which is geared towards encouraging education in the north was sent early to the schools to ensure that the students study well and in peace”.
The Minister went on further to note that a 3.7 billion debt was left at GetFund by the previous Education Ministry which was believed to have ‘hugely’ affected its operations.
To add to that, Dr Opoku-Prempeh revealed that a contract worth 134 million was signed in 2015/2016 with publishers but went missing in the budget for 2016 and 2017.
“A 3.7 billion debt was left at GetFund by the NDC government and this has hugely affected its operations.
A contract worth 134 million was signed in 2015/2016 with publishers but was conspicuously missing in the budget for 2016 and 2017 as well. NAPO stated that government was not ready to pay the outrageous amount. The publishers subsequently asked for a re-negotiation which resulted in a reduction of the said amount from 134 million to 84 million. A reduction of about 30 percent, this is as a result of due diligence on the part of competent leadership” he established.
Meanwhile, the minister has made clear that the Capitation grant has been increased from 4 cedis to 9 cedis which takes effect from 2018.
“Capitation grant has also been increased from 4 cedis to 9 cedis and it will see a further increment next year. It will interest you to know that it is this present NPP government that paid for the cost of the Progressively Free SHS by the NDC. The NDC didn’t pay a penny”. he added
