Free SHS — No retreat

 Free SHS — No retreat

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, will authoritatively send off the free senior secondary school (SHS) strategy at the West Africa SHS at Adentan today. One of the promises the New Patriotic Party (NPP) made to voters prior to the 2016 elections was the free SHS. Over 400,000 students will be exempt from paying Students Representative Council (SRC) dues and will receive free tuition, meals, textbooks, library use, admission, and uniforms under the free SHS policy.

The policy was met with skepticism by many, who claimed that funding for its implementation would not be available. However, to their surprise and delight, parents and guardians who sent their children and wards to school yesterday did not pay a pesewa when all SHSs reopened. Others generally disliked the approach, saying that it was excessive and that guardian ought to be made to pay for the instruction of their kids. The NPP responded by stating that the nation needed to ensure that no child was denied access to SHS education due to a lack of funds and that parents needed some financial relief.

The Daily Graphic believes that the policy's benefits far outweigh its drawbacks, regardless of how we view this program. Those whose children will benefit from the policy will save money based on worker wages and salaries, which could be used to pay for housing, transportation, food, and clothing.

It is documented that many students end their education at the junior high level because their parents or guardians cannot afford to send them to SHS. While some of these ex-students pursue a trade or profession, many end up selling on the street or working low-paying jobs to survive. The Everyday Realistic likewise sees the free SHS as an approach to improving and fostering the nature of the country's human assets, so that, for example, we might have better-instructed craftsmen.

Similarly, as with each new drive, there will undoubtedly be early-stage struggles. Since the policy has many advantages for the nation, it is critical that any issues that arise during its implementation be resolved as soon as possible and that the policy be improved in subsequent years. This will ensure that the issues do not serve as an excuse to end this admirable policy. The Day to day Realistic requests to the public authority to take a gander at further developing framework in SHSs to get rid of the congestion in the residences. In addition, in order to guarantee high-quality education, it ought to make certain that it supplies the required instructional materials promptly.

But more importantly, if this program is to be successful, the input of teachers, who are the center of education, must be taken into consideration. The public authority ought to take a gander at approaches to spurring educators to place their best and guarantee that they are consistently prepared and managed. We would be trading quality for quantity if this wasn't done. There should be no going back on this noble policy.