A Deputy Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has said that the free Senior High School policy, which would soon be rolled out by government, is not to readily offer access into senior high school but also to offer quality education to students.
He made the statement during 65th Speech and Prize Giving Day of St. Louis Senior High School in Kumasi.
The programme was under the theme: ‘Equipping the Girl Child for Tomorrow’s Leadership, Giving Back to the Society’.
Dr. Osei Adutwum reminded the gathering that government would roll out the free SHS as planned, saying it will be hinged on quality and not quantity.
“The free Senior High School is coming and will be implemented in September,” he said.
“We are determined to ensure that quality will not be sacrificed. As this policy is rolled [out], the Ministry is in partnership with many donors to improve performance.”
Wife of the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Lady Julia underscored the need for girl child education to be prioritised.
She paid tribute to the 2016 class that excelled during the WASSCE.
Lady Julia said women play pivotal role in the country’s development as “every nation’s greatest asset is its people and most importantly women.”
She bemoaned many girls are deprived of education partly due to poverty and archaic cultural practices.
A renowned specialist obstetrician gynaecologist and a public interest advocate, Dr Ernest Kwadwo Puni Kwarko, advised that entrepreneurship be integrated into the free Senior High School policy, stressing “it is important for the child to be mentally skilled at the reformative period”.
“This will make him or her dependent after university. That’s why I suggest that basic entrepreneurship should be included in the school curricula,” he said.
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