Govt’ll surmount challenges to implement free SHS — Education Minister

The Minister of Education, Dr Mathew Opoku-Prempeh, has given an assurance that the free senior high school (SHS) policy will take off in September this year, in spite of the numerous challenges that confront the policy.

 “As a government, we are not oblivious of the challenges that come with the free SHS policy because, as I speak, we have identified 180 day SHSs that do not have kitchens. Such a tendency can affect our initiative to provide a meal for day students as part of the free SHS policy.

“However, if it means that we have to hire caterers to supply the meals for the programme to be successful, we will make that arrangement. So nothing will stop the policy from taking off,” he said.

Dr Opoku-Prempeh gave the assurance when he addressed the Mastercard Foundation Scholars annual learning summit organised by the Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) in Accra yesterday.

Held on the theme: “Preparing students for employment and entrepreneurship”, the summit drew participants from educational institutions, civil society organisations (CSOs), development agencies and representatives from some state institutions.

TVET

The minister said plans were advanced to incorporate technical and vocational education and training (TVET) into the free SHS programme as a measure to promote entrepreneurial skills development among the youth to prepare them for the world of work.

“I am here to announce that the government is pursuing a vigorous agenda to introduce the youth into the entrepreneurial world through the incorporation of TVET into the Ministry of Education. We want to create room for standardisation and proper certification as we move towards the industrial world.

“It is unacceptable and a scar on our collective conscience that most of our young people do not have SHS education or entrepreneurial skills,” he said.

He announced that the government was partnering the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop an enterprise ecosystem to harmonise all youth support agencies to create a synergy and equip young people with the right development initiatives.

Dr Opoku-Prempeh lauded the efforts that had been made by Camfed in promoting the education of young people, saying that the government would continue to rely on CAMFED’s efforts to promote the education of females, especially.

Collaboration

For her part, the Regional Executive Director of Camfed, Mrs Dolores Dickson, said it was important for proper mechanisms to be put in place to enable young people to make a transition from school to industry.

“Considering the fact that the transition from secondary school represents a challenging period in the lives of young people, it is important to create sustainable opportunities for the youth to transition into employment and self-employment to give them sustainable livelihoods,” she said.

She said Camfed, under its ‘Enable young women transition from school to entrepreneurship’ programme, had prioritised initiatives that would promote education and entrepreneurship among females.

She called for collaboration among CSOs, government agencies and development partners to promote the education of females.