The Minority caucus has clarified its stance on the Free Senior High School (SHS) bill, emphasizing that they are not opposed to the initiative. Instead, they are urging the government to address existing challenges in the educational sector.
This clarification comes after the Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, accused the Minority caucus of opposing the proposed Free SHS bill. The bill aims to regulate the Free SHS intervention by making it mandatory for future governments to sustain the policy. Afenyo-Markin disclosed that the bill had received executive approval and would be laid before the house by the Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum. He also demanded that the Minority provide reasons for their opposition to the bill.
However, in an interview on Citi FM, the Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee, Dr. Clement Apaak, indicated that while the bill had not yet been laid before the house, the Minority had pledged their commitment to it. Dr. Apaak stressed that the Majority and the government should focus on addressing the challenges in the educational sector instead of misleading Ghanaians.
“We in the NDC have never been opposed to the Free SHS policy… So I fail to understand why the NPP and now the Majority Leader are trying to revive the stale, dead and rejected propaganda message used against the NDC that we are opposed to the policy and that should Ghanaians give us the opportunity, we will cancel the policy. We have not said that anywhere, any day, or anytime. The majority leader was the person who informed Ghanaians through the parliamentary press corps on the 11th of June 2024 that the government was going to bring to parliament a policy on the Free SHS policy with the intention of ensuring that future governments abide by the policy and implement it accordingly.”
Dr. Apaak further clarified, “We are yet to even see the bill to examine its content. So for the majority leader to try and suggest that because our ranking member made a statement to the effect that it wasn’t necessary to have the bill, that then translates to our side rejecting the bill is unfounded, totally unfounded; in fact, it is a blatant lie.”
The Minority caucus calls for constructive engagement and reforms to address the pressing issues in the educational sector.
