The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Vice Presidential Candidate, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, popularly known as Napo has urged Ghanaians to support the ruling party by voting for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the upcoming December 7 elections to sustain the Free Senior High School programme.
Speaking at the University of Memphis in the United States on October 18, Napo highlighted the many advantages of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration’s key initiative, “Free SHS.”
He emphasized that “a nation that neglects education and fails to plan for its outcomes is destined to fail.”
He pointed out that Free SHS is the “most significant transformational tool” since Ghana’s independence, greatly increasing access to quality secondary education for all Ghanaian children.
“Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, within just one year of this policy, the percentage of students not taking their places dropped from 35% to about 17%. The high demand led to the introduction of the Double Track system in 2018 for over 400 of our 721 Senior High Schools to accommodate more students.
“Today, over 5 million children have benefited from this initiative, with enrollment rates in the Northern regions rising impressively to 98% from about 85%, while the Southern regions increased from 62% to 84%.”
“The Northern figures are high because that is where free education began, and as I always say, it is beneficial for our country. Many of the 140 Ghanaian students currently studying here at this esteemed institution have gained from the Free SHS programme, and some might not have reached this point without it.”
“For us in the NPP, this is the core of governance,” he stated.
He continued, “By concentrating on these key areas, I can confidently say, with God’s grace, we have achieved remarkable results. In the first Free SHS cohort, 411 out of 465 students earned 8 A1s across all subjects.”
