Free SHS Roll-out: Minority Leader Benefitted From Free Education, Yet...!

Information Minister, Hon. Mustapha Hamid has expressed his disappointment in the Minority leader of Parliament, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu for kicking against the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy which the New Patriotic Party (NPP) rolled out this week.

His disappointment is premised on the fact that he [Mustapha Hamid] and the Minority Leader of Parliament are both beneficiaries of "Free education" introduced in the Northern region by former President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

The Information Minister thus described commentaries by the opposition NDC on the free SHS policy in its current form, as effusions from a confused group as they never anticipated that President Akufo Addo’s Free SHS will indeed become a reality.

Earlier this week, Haruna Iddrisu described the free SHS policy as "noble" but "unsustainable".

To him, the mode of financing the policy is "experimental", and therefore not sustainable, adding that the Minority will soon "be vindicated".

My emphasis is that let us not pursue this noble objective which is important for the future of our students and dear to the parent's hearts with experimental financing. Our position is one for which we are not asking for vindication today, we will be vindicated with time,” he stressed.

But speaking on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Mustapha Hamid stressed that any other member of the opposition NDC who has not benefited from free education can criticize the laudable Free SHS policy introduced by President Akufo-Addo, but certainly not the Minority Leader who has been a beneficiary of such a policy introduced during Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s regime.

It is sad that the Minority leader has joined the crusade against the Free SHS policy; if it was coming from someone else I wouldn’t have any problem. Because he and I were beneficiaries of Free SHS because of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and those who of us from the North are still enjoying Free SHS policy,” he stated.

He [Haruna Iddrisu] has enjoyed Free SHS and now he is a Minority leader but he doesn’t want those in the South to enjoy the same policy; this is sad to hear from him. Is it not time to extend this policy to the children from the southern side since independence? Are the parents in the South not paying taxes in the country? This is why we say that the Free SHS policy stands for equity, access and quality,” he emphasized.