Dr. John Kumah, deputy finance minister, has clarified that the government’s free senior high school (Free SHS) policy is not draining the public coffers as has been suggested.
The money spent on Free SHS, in his opinion, cannot outweigh the total amount of money the government spends on other policies, and the debt of the nation is the true “elephant in the room.”
“It’s not true that Free SHS is a huge elephant in the room. The allocation for Free SHS in the 2023 budget was GH¢2.9 billion, and the entire appropriation for the year was GH¢228 billion.”
“You cannot tell me that if you are spending GH¢2.9 billion out of GH¢228 billion, that is the elephant in the room. And this is covering over 1.3 million Ghanaian children.”
The benefits that the vulnerable stand to gain from Free SHS were emphasized by the deputy finance minister.
He reaffirmed the commitment of the government to achieving growth in order to lighten the burden on the average citizen.
“The elephant in the room is our debt, the interest payments we made,” prior to the 2023 mid-year budget review, Dr. John Kumah made a statement on Eyewitness News.
The benefits that the vulnerable stand to gain from Free SHS were emphasized by the deputy finance minister.
“The impact and benefits of Free SHS go to the core of the vulnerable and, of course, the future of the human resource of our country. And for me, that is non-negotiable,” he stated.
He reaffirmed the commitment of the government to achieving growth in order to lighten the burden on the average citizen.
“We want to achieve growth in the midst of fiscal constraints,” he said.
The initiative has received support from the finance minister, who emphasized the moral obligation to guarantee that every child in Ghana has access to education.
One of the main problems is related to nutrition, as some schools struggle to give their students enough food because of a lack of funding and supplies.
There have thus been worries that if these issues continue, some schools may even have to think about closing.
