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Former
President
John
Dramani
Mahama
has
said
he
favours
any
bill
that
intends
to
improve
education
in
Ghana.
Commenting
on
the
Free
Senior
High
School
Bill
introduced
by
the
Akufo-Addo
government,
Mr
Mahama
said
at
a
media
engagement
in
Accra
on
Sunday,
July
7
that
the
Bill
must
be
subjected
to
stakeholder
engagement.
“I
support
any
bill
that
will
improve
our
education,
one
to
make
it
sustainable,
two
to
afford
quality
education
for
our
children,
and
also
any
bill
that
will
achieve
this
is
something
that
I
will
support.
“I
haven’t
seen
the
Bill
and
I
don’t
think
that
it
has
been
subjected
yet
to
stakeholder
consultation
but
we
would
want
to
see
the
Bill
and
I
am
sure
that
when
Cabinet
has
approved
it
it
will
be
laid
in
parliament
when
it
is
valid
in
parliament
as
parliamentarian
the
normal
action
is
to
refer
it
to
the
committee
responsible.
“I
am
hoping
that
when
that
Bill
is
referred
to
the
committee
responsible
it
will
do
the
proper
stakeholder
consultation
so
that
we
all
can
be
of
on
board.
If
you
are
making
fundamental
changes
to
our
educational
system
I
think
that
parents,
teachers
and
everybody
who
has
a
stake
in
education
must
be
involved.”
Stakeholders
have
been
asking
the
government
to
engage
the,
on
the
Bill.
For
instance,
the
President
of
the
Coalition
of
Concerned
Teachers,
King
Ali
Awudu
said
that
with
such
a
major
Bill,
it
is
only
apt
that
key
stakeholders
such
as
the
teacher
unions
are
consulted.
“We
have
a
law
on
pre-tertiary education,
and
you
are
bringing
this?
What
difference
is
it
going
to
do?
The
1992
Constitution
already
talks
about
the
fact
that
after
50
years
of
coming
into
force
basic education
should
be
free.
So,
there
are
already
constitutional
provisions
backing
the
free
Senior
High
School
policy,
so
if
you
want
to
bring
in
a
free
SHS
bill,
it
is
just
good
that
you
carry
us
along,”
he
told
TV3’s
Daniel
Opoku.
For
his
part,
the
General
Secretary
of
The
Ghana
National
Association
of
Teachers
(GNAT),
Thomas
Musah
Tanko,
asked
the
government
to
consider
introducing
a
funding
Act
instead
of
free
SHS
bill.
According
to
GNAT,
government
should
also
consider
addressing
challenges
relating
to
capitation
grant
and
other
issues
affecting
the education sector.
“Whilst
we
are
talking
now,
School
Feeding
{Programme}
is
a
problem,
how
do
we
sustain
the
1.4
million
students
we
have
in
school,
how
do
we
sustain
them,
how
do
we
sustain
the
basic
school
and
the
KG?
We
need
an
Act
now
and
the
Act
now
is
funding
for
pre-tertiary education
in
Ghana,
this
law
can
be
put
aside
for
now,”
he
suggested.
Suspend
free
SHS
Bill
–
Pre-tertiary
unions
tell
Education
Minister
On
the
Bill,
Majority
Leader
Alexander
Afenyo-Markin
declared
that
the
caucus
will
not
be
intimidated
by
the
Minority’s
opposition
to
the
Free
Senior
High
School
(SHS)
bill.
Speaking
on
Onua
FM’s
Yen
Nsempa
program,
on
Wednesday
3rd
of
July,
the
Effutu
MP
emphasized
that
the
Free
SHS
policy
is
non-negotiable,
and
the
Majority
will
push
the
bill
through
at
all
costs.
He
asserted
that
the
policy
will
be
forced
on
the
National
Democratic
Congress
(NDC)
and
its
parliamentarians.
“The
ranking
member
on
the education committee,
Nortsue-Kotoe,
said
they
will
not
support
the
bill,
so
it
is
fair
to
say
that
the
NDC
does
not
support
the
Free
SHS
bill,”
Afenyo-Markin
stated.
He
criticized
the
NDC
for
opposing
the
bill
prematurely,
noting
that
they
had
not
even
reviewed
it.
He
compared
this
opposition
to
their
initial
resistance
to
the
Free
SHS
policy
and
other
major
social
interventions.
“There
is
no
fear
of
anything.
We
only
want
to
enact
the
law
to
bind
all
of
us
to
build
a
new
national
psyche
that
Free
SHS
is
not
negotiable.
No
matter
how
the
NDC
opposes
it,
we
will
force
it
on
them,”
he
added.
If
passed
into
law,
the
bill
would
ensure
that
the
Free
SHS
policy
remains
binding
on
successive
governments,
preventing
any
future
administration
from
discontinuing
it.
Despite
initial
resistance,
the
NDC
and
Minority
have
now
declared
their
support
for
the
bill.
They
have
also
announced
their
intention
to
push
for
a
dedicated
funding
source
for
the
Free
SHS
policy
in
the
forthcoming
proposed
legislation
by
the
government.
However,
the
Ranking
Member
on
Parliament’s Education Committee
and
Member
of
Parliament
for
Akatsi
North
Constituency,
Nortsue-Kotoe,
has
dismissed
claims
by
the
NPP
government
regarding
its
concern
for
the
country’s education.
He
pointed
out
that
the
current
government
has
not
prioritized education as
it
claims,
highlighting
significant
debts
owed
to
suppliers
of
key educational logistics.
“As
we
speak
now,
the
government
owes
monies
to
those
who
supplied
school
uniforms
two
to
three
years
ago
to
senior
high
school
students.
They
owe
monies
to
people
who
supplied
textbooks
and
furniture
to
senior
high
schools.
So,
what
are
they
trying
to
say?”
he
questioned.
Nortsue-Kotoe
also
revealed
that
the
government
still
owes
money
to
suppliers
of
food
items
for
two
years.