FIRST COMMUNITY SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETED

Ghana has embarked on a free Senior High School (SHS) education policy with the inauguration of the first Community Day SHS building in the Central Region.

President John Dramani Mahama inaugurated the Community Day school, named after the late President John Evans Attah Mills, at a ceremony at Ekumfi Otuam, the late President’s home town yesterday.

Ghana’s 1992 Republican Constitution stipulates that the country must embrace a progressively free Senior High School education ten years upon the coming into being of the Constitution.

However, this is the first time a government has commenced implementing that constitutional requirement since 1993.

President Mahama told chiefs and people of  Ekumfi Otuam that the government would ensure that 200 community SHS would be constructed in under-served rural communities across the country as part of his key electoral promises he made to the people of Ghana during the 2012 electioneering campaigns.

According to the Forman at the construction site at Otum in the Ekumfi District John Mensah noted that the project which started last year August is expected to be completed by July 2015.He said there are 27 classrooms in the three story school complex. This was revealed when Central Press reporter visited the site to see progress of work.

President Mahama in the 2012 NDC manifesto pledged to build 200 Community Day Senior High schools across the country.

The purpose of the project is to increase access to Secondary Education in disadvantaged districts as well as improve quality in low performing Senior High Schools.

Funding has been secured for 150 out of the 200 senior high schools, and we remain committed to fulfilling the promise by close of 2016”, he said. 

According to him, Education is the key to the eradication of poverty, and government is committed to establishing the 200 Senior High Schools to make education accessible to all in Ghana.

Earlier, Ghana’s Minister for Education, Professor Nana Jean Opoku-Agyeman, stated that the free education policy was starting with day students and for the first term, 320,488 students would be covered. She explained that these were made up of 111,212- first year, 109,731 second- year and 99,753 third-year students.