The Minister-Designate for Education, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, was today vetted by Parliament. Answering questions relating to the Manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Hon. Iddrisu reiterated the commitment of the government to undertake a stakeholder forum to review the Free SHS program, which he opined was one of the boldest steps in wanting to transform education.
More importantly, the Minister-Designate spoke on the importance of securing adequate and dependable financing for the program.
“With emphasis on the future of the Free Senior High School in particular, how to assure it of adequate, reliable, sustainable financing, we will undertake a stakeholder forum that will involve donors and partners, academia, parents, and students, to review the Free Senior High School program,” he stated.
“It was a matter of debate between free, universal education, absorbing all the costs, and progressively free, starting with infrastructure. But President Mahama intends to undertake a comprehensive review of it to make it sustainable,” he added.
In response to a question on the cost of the proposed free first-year academic fees for university students, Hon. Iddrisu indicated that “the country will require about GH₵345 million to implement a free tuition policy for first-year university students, which was intended to make tertiary education more accessible to students across the country. He also mentioned that refunds would be made to freshmen who have already paid.
The Minister-designate also announced plans to uncap the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) as a matter of urgency to bolster infrastructural development in the education sector, adding that the decision to uncap GETFund will be taken in collaboration with the Finance Minister to free up additional resources for the fund’s intended purpose. PRUnit #END#.
