President Akufo-Addo and\u00a0John Mahama<\/strong><\/p>\nFormer President John Dramani Mahama is still berating President Akufo-Addo for implementing the free Senior High School (SHS) policy which is intended to serve as a catalyst for the country\u2019s development.<\/p>\n
He said President Akufo-Addo, who had turned himself into what he called \u2018Jack Toronto,\u2019 was trying to do everything at once.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe free SHS policy is enshrined in the constitution but it says we will introduce it progressively. Someone called Jack Toronto has come in and says he wants to implement it at once!\u201d the former president said in the Western Region during a campaign tour yesterday.<\/p>\n
Amidst cheers from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters in Prestea, he said humorously that \u201cdon\u2019t report me! The constitution is saying we should do it progressively but Jack Toronto says he is doing it at once, and this is the reason why we are encountering all these problems with the free SHS.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou ask the kids to go to school for 41 days and return home and go for a second semester for another 41 days. Put together we have 82 days. So therefore, out of 365 days in a year our children are attending school for only 81 days and then go ahead to write exams. Is it the way to go?\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking at Bodi, he criticized the double-track system, which has been designed to ease congestion in schools and promote quality teaching.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current government is confused and mishandling the implementation of the free SHS policy to the extent that it has to introduce \u2018traffic light\u2019 in the policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe congestion in classes was evidence of the ill-planned free SHS policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
He indicated that \u201cthe government will say today it is the turn of the green light to go to school then tomorrow the yellow light should go. Recently they have come out with a confused time table\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know the 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0and 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0year students are not among, but now they say the 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0year students would go to school in March,\u201d Mr Mahama told the NDC supporters.<\/p>\n\u201cAnytime you hear President Mahama say when he comes back he will abolish free SHS, tell the person that I came to Prestea and stood at this multipurpose sports ground and said it is not true. I haven\u2019t said that anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also claimed at Bodi that the NPP government was investing a chunk of the nation\u2019s funds into the free SHS policy to the detriment of the other sectors of the economy.<\/p>\n
He said if the government concentrates on developing other sectors of the economy to improve the living standards, parents would be financially sound and pay for their children\u2019s fees at the SHS level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you go to the NHIS, they say there are no cards because the money had been invested in free SHS. Free education is important but you should also consider the provision of better health care, improved agriculture and cocoa farming,\u201d Mr Mahama noted.<\/p>\n
Mr. Mahama asserted that because the current government was\u00a0implementing the free SHS system haphazardly, most of the parents had to look for private teachers to teach their wards in extra classes.<\/p>\n
He added \u201cin Accra, private teachers charge GH\u00a2100 per subject so if your child is doing six subjects the parents had to pay GH\u00a2600.00\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Mahama continued, \u201cProgressively free education is in the constitution but that did not mean you have to invest all the country\u2019s money in free SHS.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nana\u2019s Resolve<\/strong><\/p>\nIn spite of the criticisms, President Akufo-Addo reiterated the commitment of the New Patriotic Party (NDC) government to giving children in the country a better future.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeadership is about choices \u2013 I have chosen to invest in the future of our youth and of our country. To ensure that no child is denied access to secondary education, we are removing one of the biggest obstacles that currently stand in their way- cost,\u201d he said during the launch of the free SHS.<\/p>\n
Dept Education Minister Reacts<\/strong><\/p>\nReacting to claims by the former President on Okay FM<\/em><\/strong> yesterday, Osei Yaw Adutwum, a Deputy Minister of Education, indicated that Mr. Mahama was confused and does not understand the policy.<\/p>\nThe deputy minister, therefore, pleaded with the former president to seek clarification on the policy from his outfit.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a former president and so people tend to believe what he says, but I will plead with him that he can even contact me\u00a0for certain clarification of the policy before going public,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Akufo-Addo and\u00a0John Mahama Former President John Dramani Mahama is still berating President Akufo-Addo for implementing the free Senior High School (SHS) policy which is intended to serve as a catalyst for the country\u2019s development. He said President Akufo-Addo, who had turned himself into what he called \u2018Jack Toronto,\u2019 was trying to do everything at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":585110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-585109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n
Mahama Insults Nana Over Free SHS\u00a0 - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Mahama Insults Nana Over Free SHS\u00a0 - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"President Akufo-Addo and\u00a0John Mahama Former President John Dramani Mahama is still berating President Akufo-Addo for implementing the free Senior High School (SHS) policy which is intended to serve as a catalyst for the country\u2019s development. He said President Akufo-Addo, who had turned himself into what he called \u2018Jack Toronto,\u2019 was trying to do everything at […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/12\\\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/12\\\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036\"},\"headline\":\"Mahama Insults Nana Over Free SHS\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-12T12:19:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/12\\\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":761,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/12\\\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/12\\\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/12\\\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/12\\\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mahama Insults Nana Over Free SHS\u00a0 - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/12\\\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/12\\\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-12T12:19:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/12\\\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/12\\\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mahama Insults Nana Over Free SHS\u00a0 - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Mahama Insults Nana Over Free SHS\u00a0 - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"President Akufo-Addo and\u00a0John Mahama Former President John Dramani Mahama is still berating President Akufo-Addo for implementing the free Senior High School (SHS) policy which is intended to serve as a catalyst for the country\u2019s development. He said President Akufo-Addo, who had turned himself into what he called \u2018Jack Toronto,\u2019 was trying to do everything at […]","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/"},"author":{"name":"Ghana News","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#\/schema\/person\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036"},"headline":"Mahama Insults Nana Over Free SHS\u00a0","datePublished":"2019-01-12T12:19:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/"},"wordCount":761,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/","name":"Mahama Insults Nana Over Free SHS\u00a0 - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2019-01-12T12:19:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#\/schema\/person\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/01\/12\/mahama-insults-nana-over-free-shs\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#\/schema\/person\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}