FREE SHS; TO DO OR NOT TO DO? A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE...

Why should pupils still school under trees? Why should pupils still be sitting on stones and be writing on the ground? Why should one teacher be solely in charge of three different classes? How is it possible that BECE candidates in private schools taught by SHS graduates pass well than their fellows in public basic schools that are taught by trained teachers? Are these not the shameful problems within our education circles that need to be solved urgently? How can there be a debate about this? How can we ever improve our education in any way else if these problems still persist?
If the NPP’s free SHS is misplaced then what is the other option on the table? To the layman, the popular alternative around is that the NPP’s promise is a hoax and unattainable. To be fair, the other option as provided by the NDC is the improvement of access to secondary schools and an improvement of the quality of our schools. With regard to access, the NDC promises 200 community secondary schools to be taught by teachers from 10 new training colleges while the NPP wants to build 350 secondary schools. Thus I think promises-wise, we can all move on and have faith that no matter who comes into power next, access to SHS education will be massively improved. This means that the argument eventually is reduced to either using our coffers to provide FREE SHS (NPP) or using it to improve the quality of our basic and secondary schools (NDC).
I always said that until Akuffo Addo will be willing to enrol his grandchild in Amankwatia L/A Basic School and feel confident that his grandchild’s future is faultlessly bright, then Free SHS was premature. Sincerely, the gap between private and public basic schools in this country is generally so wide that Free SHS on the face of things looks quite misplaced. If all Ghanaian school children don’t have a fairly equal chance of qualifying into good secondary schools then that is the problem to solve or so I thought. Free SHS might not be the best use of our resources in a Utopian Ghana but probably, in today’s real-world Ghana it finally makes sense to me after several thoughts about the issue.
The NDC’s promise of quality, in reality is not good enough. The NDC and its antecedents have been in power for 23 or so years thus the state of our education system; good or bad can be more placed on their shoulders. This is why I find it funny that ‘quality’ will be this much emphasized by the NDC as their alternative to the NPP’s ‘free SHS’. Moreover, it is a ruling government’s perpetual responsibility to ensure a continuous improvement in a nation’s education system. Again, the provision of quality, for it to be a real alternative must be dated and costed. Free SHS has a date and a cost attached to it. What is the definition of quality, when will we realize this quality and at what cost? It is only when these questions are answered by the NDC that ‘quality’ becomes a real policy alternative. Else ‘quality’ becomes an ideal that must be forever pursued and as such cannot be a fair basis to endorse or otherwise, the NDC in 2016 if it is they win the upcoming election. Moreover, in the absence of a date and cost for quality, it becomes terribly difficult for us to track the monies dedicated to its achievement. In a country where our state auditor on a yearly basis discovers billions of Cedis have been lost without trace from our national kitty, it should be preferable that we have concrete policies and programs that are well known by the populace thus the people can follow its progress, assess it and raise eyebrows when need be. This is better than having vague idealistic pursuits which are difficult to assess and as such leave a huge room for funds to be ‘lost in transit’ at blindside of the people. When a prophet says; tomorrow you will find 10 Cedis on the ground, it is more assessable two days later than when he says; soon your life will be improved. In a country riddled with corruption, it is better to know what exactly our money will be used for within a certain period. If the NPP fails to deliver free SHS after coming into office, it is more likely that they will be booted out in 2016. As it stands now, the NDC’s alternative doesn’t assure us that measure of control. In a country where government financial transactions are difficult to track, the way forward should be; well marketed, dated and costed policies. This will give us a benchmark for evaluating our governors hence becomes an albatross around the politician’s neck that will ensure better responsibility, transparency and accountability.
The argument; Ghana can’t afford ‘free SHS’ is comical. That excuse is more painful to listen to especially when it is coming from an MP or Minister. Ghana can afford their salaries, allowances, car loans, ex-gratia and their purchases of vastly undervalued government assets without breaking sweat. Huge judgement debts and crazy Black Stars bonuses can be paid but when it comes to the education of a Ghanaian child, that can’t be afforded. That is selfish and hypocritical. Are some people more Ghanaian than others? I am even yet to talk of all the monies we lose due to corruption.
The charcoal retailer in Savelugu has no flowing taps and no electricity; she treks on bad roads and can’t put food on the table. She has not wept because she doesn’t have an 80,000 Cedis ex-gratia or a monthly 7200 Cedis pay. All she wants is a few hundred Cedis for her children’s SHS education.
ODURO-MARFO SMITH