Dennis Miracles Aboagye, an aide to New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has criticised the government’s management of the education sector, claiming it has not fulfilled many of its promises. While Mr. Aboagye acknowledged the significant expansion of access to secondary education through the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) program, he argued that the government has inadequately addressed several challenges affecting its implementation.
During an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Channel One TV’s Face to Face on Tuesday, August 11, he identified the issue of feeding as one of the major challenges currently facing the education sector.
“Nothing derailed the entire education sector. As we speak today, food is poor,” he said. Mr Aboagye, however, defended the Free SHS policy, saying its core objective was to ensure that students from poor, middle-income and affluent households could access secondary education without financial barriers.
He argued that the policy should be assessed based on the expansion of access it has achieved compared with the situation before its introduction, rather than solely on the challenges that have emerged during its implementation. “In fact, the World Bank has even said that Free SHS is the biggest policy this country has ever seen,” he said.
According to him, the significant increase in access to secondary education means the Free SHS programme has performed better overall than the system that existed before its introduction. “The singular objective of Free SHS is to grant universal access to the poor, the mid-poor, and the rich. Free SHS performance far outweighs pre-Free SHS,” he said.
Mr Aboagye nevertheless questioned why the government continues to cite implementation challenges as reasons for failing to fulfil its commitments. He argued that the government had spent eight years in opposition and should therefore have anticipated and prepared for the challenges associated with implementing its policies after assuming office.
“The fact of the matter here is that every single promise that this government has made, they are failing at it. And all they keep telling us is, this is the reason why we can’t do it,” he said.
He added: “So what were you doing in opposition for eight years?” Mr Aboagye reiterated his assessment of the Free SHS programme, saying, “Free SHS performance far outweighs pre-Free SHS.”
His comments come amid continued debate over the quality of education, financing, feeding, infrastructure and other challenges associated with the implementation of the Free SHS programme.
Source: Leticia Osei
