Deputy Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has stressed that it is better for children to learn and eat under trees than hawk on the streets and go hungry.
Reacting to Member of Parliament of North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa’s statement that the 2018 budget did not provide enough funds to address the current challenges the programme is facing, Dr Adutwum said “I’ll rather have children learning under trees that walking on the streets and selling dog chains. I’ll rather have children eating under trees than going hungry”.
The Former Deputy Minister for education accused government of failing to do enough to resolve the many challenges facing the Free Senior High School.
According to him, government did not allocate enough funds for the rolling out of the project and have repeated the same thing in the 2018 budget by allocating just GH¢1.13billion for the programme for the next academic year.
He said, “When we told our colleagues on the other side that the allocation of the GH¢400 million was inadequate they called us names, today the finance minister came to parliament and told us the allocation was inadequate… they have done the same thing again in the 2018 budget".
He added that “the whole Ghana expected that this 2018 budget under education would have come with a marshal plan, a rescue package for the free SHS disaster but “this budget has not made an allocation to address these challenges”.
To avoid being accused of engaging in propaganda, Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa presented some graphical demonstrations of students in some Senior High schools in the country, sitting on cement blocks to study and others learning under trees whilst others had to keep their belongings (trunks and chop boxes) outside and sleep on the floor due to lack of the necessary infrastructure.
In his defence, Deputy Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, said the NPP administration was aware that the rolling out of the Free SHS programme will face some challenges before deciding to go ahead with it.
“We did not go into the implementation of Free Senior High School with allusions that it’s all going to be hunky-dory… but no child can wait their turn until everything is great in this country before they can have the opportunity for secondary education,” he said.
He added that “as a child who grew up in the rural area who almost did not go to Senior High School, I sit here, and I feel like the poor children of this nation who have now been given the opportunity to attend Senior High School are now being insulted”.
Dr Adutwum said the Akufo-Addo government has created a level platform for all to get adequate Senior High School education and with time all the challenges were going to be over.
Source: Ghanaweb
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
The statement is clearly compromising quality for quantity period. NDC built Sugar factory without sugar cane and its incompetent how about putting vulnerable children under threes to study before builder infrustructure
@Sunshine girl, I think you should change your name to maybe 'moon die girl'. Look, the minister was comparing two things, either you learn under trees or sell dog chains on the street with the sun burning down on you without education. Now which one do you prefer, please madam sunshine? It is like life and death, which one would you recommend to your children? Do you know how many people have sat under trees to learn and they are now doctors and professors?
The so called info-graphics Ablakwa showed as the failure of the free SHS porgram is an indictment of the former government of which he was the deputy minister of education.They kept touting their achievements as unprecedented infrastructure development in the education sector.Now testing this so called unprecedented infrastructure development in the educational sector by about 100,000 students at the secondary level and all hell is breaking loose.It clearly shows that either they did nothing or it was not unprecedented after all.As the present deputy minister said no child can wait his/her turn for all to be primp and proper before enjoying secondary school education.About funding Ablakwa should know that a school year is different from the fiscal year.Any funding presented in a fiscal year budget will not be in tandem with a school year.He does not appreciate this very simple principle?And this was the person who was our deputy minister?God ahs indeed saved this country from NDC
Minister, your response is perfect.
The most powerful words of wisdom I have ever heard from any Ghanaian politician. Too loaded.
Amazing!!! Is learning under trees and sitting on cement blocks something to be proud of today? This is the arrr0gance of a deputy minister; not the best way to respond to criticism.
PERFECTLY SAID .. MINISTER
WELL SPOKEN MR MINISTER.YOU ARE TOO WISE.
i couldn,t have said it better Mr. minister. well done. problems with second cycles schools have been there long before the introduction of the free SHS. if they had channeled all those money they used to build filling stations into building boarding houses for our children this wouldn't have happened. now they have started wagging their evil tongues against it. trying create the impression that they care about Ghanaian. ye nim mo suban fri tete. my prayer is that you stay in opposition forever so that you don't come back to destroy this policy too just like you did to NHIS, school feeding, free transportation for school children with the KUFFOUR BUSES AND OTHERS.
i have always said these nation wreckers (NDC) mean nothing good for this country, they are much interested in thing that would serve their greedy interest they want to see majority of Ghanaians being ill1terate so they can lie and deceive them. NDC represent the devil on earth and they shall remain in opposition till thy God knows, kwashia buuuuuului