Dr. John Kumah, deputy finance minister, has stated that the government’s free senior high school (Free SHS) policy is not draining the public coffers as has been suggested.
He contends that the country’s debt is the true “elephant in the room” and that the money allocated to Free SHS cannot outweigh the overall amount of money spent by the government on other measures.
“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 elephant in the room is our debt, the interest payments we made,” Dr. Kumah said on Eyewitness News ahead of the 2023 mid-year budget review.
The benefits that the vulnerable stand to receive from Free SHS were stressed 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 development in order to lighten the burden on the average person.
He reaffirmed the commitment of the government to achieving development in order to lighten the burden on the average person.
“We want to achieve growth in the midst of fiscal constraints,” he said.
The plan has received support from the finance minister, who emphasized the moral need to guarantee that every kid in Ghana has access to school.
One of the main problems is connected to nutrition, since some schools struggle to give their pupils enough food because of a lack of finance and supplies.
There have so been worries that if these issues continue, some schools may possibly have to think about closing.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Joseph Asare
