The Government of Ghana has invested GH¢3.2 billion in its free Senior High School (SHS) programme, according to Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The government honoured its promise of free SHS aimed at providing free education to all Ghanaian school children at the secondary level when it took over the reins of the economy from erstwhile Mahama government.
Currently, over three hundred thousand (300,00) students who are the first batch of beneficiaries are writing their WASSCE.
Delivering the mid-year budget review on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, July 23, Mr. Ofori-Atta noted the government's investment in the education sector has saved parents and families huge sums of money that they would have paid to take their children to school.
“Mr. Speaker, in acknowledging that education is the primary driver for upward social and economic mobility, we rolled out a raft of policy measures to improve the opportunities of our people. We invested GH¢3.2 billion to implement Free SHS, resulting in over 1.2 million teenagers being in secondary school now, looking forward to better opportunities in life. For their parents and families, this has translated into GH¢2.2 billion in savings. That is money that the State has put back into the pockets of Ghanaians all across the country,” he said.
He further added the government has also made significant investment in resolving the unemployment situation in Ghana.
“We have also invested in excess of GH¢1.6 billion in 100,000 jobless but educated young adults who had been ignored by the State and were in despair. Through the new NABCO initiative, they have been engaged in various state and private institutions, with some of them securing permanent jobs in the process. That is money in the pockets of our youth.”
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