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 President Mahama inspecting a guard of honour mounted by the school cadet

SHS boarding students to enjoy free education

The Free Secondary Education Programme is to be extended to boarding students this year, beginning with students in deprived districts, President John Dramani Mahama has announced.

He said the government was aware of the importance of education to national development and was committed to making the financial burden of parents lighter to ensure access to education for all.

President Mahama made the announcement in an addresss at the 70th Anniversary and Speech and Prize-giving Day of the Holy Child School in Cape Coast last Saturday.

The free SHS programme was launched by President Mahama last year for day students, with a promise that the programme would be extended progressively to students in boarding schools.

He said the regular publication of school fees to ensure that they were not increased arbitrarily was one way of reducing the financial burden and asked parents and schools to partner the government to ensure that was achieved.

More SHSs

President Mahama explained that the government’s commitment to the construction of 200 additional SHSs was to provide 200,000 more placements for the many junior high school graduates who, otherwise, would not have had access to secondary education.

He said it was also to ease the pressure on the already established schools.

The President said the government was also implementing the Secondary Education Improvement Programme, together with the World Bank, aimed at increasing access in under-served communities, while improving the quality of education in low-performing SHSs.

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He stated that education presented limitless opportunities for all and bridged the gap between the poor and the rich and that the government would ensure that it was used to level the disparities.

Scholarships

President Mahama said 300 SHS students received scholarships of GH¢2,000 each in 2015 to cater for school fees and other educational needs to ensure that under-privileged children also had the opportunity to access sound education.

He said the government would work to continue the implementation of the Mathematics, Science and Technology scheme which had supported approximately 9,000 students since it started in 2010, to ensure the production of more science, technical and vocational professionals.

He advised parents not to force children into specific courses but rather encourage them into new areas of study such as oil and gas and information technology.

“Let us give our young ones reasonable flexibility to make adjustments which respond to the increasingly competitive global and national world of work.

“Let us, through these demand driven choices, reduce unemployment,” President Mahama urged, noting that there were many job opportunities for qualified professionals but not enough could be found.

Teachers’ conditions

The President urged teachers to be patient and tolerant as the government made efforts to resolve and improve their working conditions and thanked the leadership of the teachers’ front for the healthy dialogue between teachers and the government to resolve recent misunderstandings.

 He asked the students to work hard to achieve their aspirations and commended the old students of the school for their support towards the development of the school.

President Mahama also commended the Catholic Church and the pioneering team for the high quality education in the school.

The Headmistress of the school, Rev. Sis. Josephine Anto, appealed for more accommodation facilities for teachers and another access road to the school.

The Patron of the school, Archbishop Mathias Nketsiah, said the successes chalked up by faith-based institutions made the need for some level of autonomy necessary.

 The Guest Speaker, Dr Maria Hagan, an ophthalmologist, advised the students to combine studies with spirituality and high moral values.

Dr Pia Dogbe of the 1991 Year Group, who chaired the function, also urged the students to appreciate and make good use of the resources available to them and aspire to greater heights.

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