John Dramani Mahama and the NDC, unlike Mahamudu Bawumia and the NPP, will not inflate FSHS enrollment figures by over 2.5 million to feign success. And neither will students in our secondary schools be fed unwholesome food under John Dramani Mahama.
How could beneficiaries of the FSHS programme from 2017-2024 be over 5 million, when the total number of students who wrote BECE from 2017- 2024 is less than 5 million? As exposed by Fact-Check Ghana, total FSHS enrollment from 2017-2024 is 3.1 million [3,135,754] and not over 5 million, as contained in conflicting figures put forward by NPP flagbearer Mahamudu Bawumia and Akufo-Addo.
Among other proposals, John Dramani Mahama has tabulated to improve and sustain the FSHS Programme, is the decentralisation of the procurement of food and other basic supplies. Ghanaians can, therefore, count on John Dramani Mahama to ensure that our children in secondary school are not fed expired, unwholesome rice amongst others.
For the avoidance of doubt, documented evidence confirms the fact, that John Dramani Mahama started the implementation of the Free Senior High School [FSHS] policy in 2015 progressively. Consequently, Ghanaians should treat with the utmost contempt, the blatant lie told by the NPP Flagbearer and the NPP government, that Mahama is opposed to FSHS. How can John Dramani Mahama cannibalise what he started? In fact, he has stated on numerous occasions, and at various fora, that FSHS has come to stay.
FSHS Implementation Challenges
Like many Ghanaians, including stakeholders in the education sector, such as CHASS, NAGRAT, EduWatch, IFEST, Students and Parents, John Dramani Mahama and the NDC, hold the firm belief, that the FSHS policy is a good policy; but has serious implementation challenges under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government.
The haphazard implementation of the FSHS policy by the NPP government has led to deep-seated problems that threaten the entire education sector. These include:
1. The obnoxious double-track system;
2. Spatial constraints and massive overcrowding;
3. Inadequate and irregular funding;
4. Erratic academic calendar and insufficient contact hours;
5. Erratic supply of non-perishable food items and irregular release of funds for perishable food items;
6. Poor quantity and quality of food for students occasioned by the centralisation of food procurement, riddled with corruption and undue delays in food supply;
7. Growing indiscipline and higher levels of examination malpractices;
10. Deterioration of school facilities;
11. Inadequate furniture in classrooms, dormitories, dining halls, offices;
12. High extra cost to parents;
13. A declining quality of education; and
12. The harassment of dissenting teachers and school heads.
John Dramani Mahama’s Plan To Improve and Sustain FSHS
Cognisant of the above challenges, and after engaging stakeholders, such as CHASS and NAGRAT on secondary education, the next John Dramani Mahama NDC Government will:
1. Abolish the obnoxious double-track system to restore a stable academic calendar;
2. Provide a dedicated and sustainable funding source for quality secondary education by ring-fencing a percentage of our oil proceeds;
3. Embark on an emergency infrastructure drive to complete abandoned E-blocks and expand infrastructure in existing SHSs and TVET institutions;
4. Decentralise the procurement of food and other basic supplies, ensure timely food supply, and improve the quantity and quality of food for students;
5. Extend FSHS to cover students in private Senior High Schools;
6. Integrate the operations of the Free SHS Secretariat into the Ghana Education Service (GES) to efficiently implement the policy;
7. Reform secondary education curricula to integrate STEM, agriculture, vocational skills, digital literacy, civic education, design thinking, and life skills into secondary educational outcomes;
8. Introduce specialized Artificial Intelligence labs in selected secondary schools across the sixteen regions;
9. Continue our policy of provision of free laptops/tablets for SHS students;
10. Forge partnerships for the efficient delivery of secondary education, including restoring the role of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and old student associations;
11. Strengthen government partnerships with religious bodies in managing mission schools;
12. Upgrade existing ICT laboratories and establish new ICT laboratories in Schools without same to promote digital literacy;
13. Expand digital libraries to enhance access to global teaching and learning materials for both teachers and learners;
14. Expand Science Resource Centres (SRC) across the regions to support STEM/TVET education;
15. Review the Computerised School Selection & Placement System (CSSPS) to address corruption in school placement, and make it merit-based;
16. Implement a policy to upgrade selected secondary schools across the sixteen regions into Grade A schools; and
17. Conduct an infrastructural audit to identify gaps and invest in targeted infrastructure to enhance access and quality of education.
Conclusion
Ghanaians should trust John Dramani Mahama to improve and sustain FSHS for the good of Ghana. John Dramani Mahama’s commitment to improving and sustaining secondary education is not in doubt. This is further manifested in an initiative and a forum expected to impact positively on secondary education in Ghana in the first 120 days of the coming John Dramani Mahama Presidency. John Dramani Mahama will:
a) Convene a national consultative conference on EDUCATION to build consensus on needed improvements to the sector and; b) Commence the distribution of free sanitary pads to female students in primary and secondary schools.
John Dramani Mahama has a proven track record in the area of education and can be trusted to deliver on these promises.
Dr. Clement Abas Apaak,
MP/PC, Builsa South Constituency, Deputy Ranking Member on Education Committee, and the NDC Manifesto Spokesperson on Education
