Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yofi Grant has said that the flagship Free SHS program introduced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is the policy that will transform Ghana into a better country.
Speaking in an interview with Kwame Afrifa Mensah on the ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show, he explained that for any country to grow, the country must have knowledgeable people who will make decisions to help the country grow and that he believes the free SHS will accomplish.
“The free SHS policy is the foundational policy that will transform the nation. A lot of things will not be left to emotional thinking but rational thinking and that will change the country.
Before free SHS, every year, over a hundred thousand kids fall off education with no recourse to go back because they either could not pay for it or they just failed and did not have the money to rewrite or they just did not have the opportunity to reeducate”, he said.
He was of the view that Nana Addo has displayed transformational, visionary leadership with the introduction of the Free SHS. This he said comes as no surprise to him because the president in all his political life has shown transformational leadership.
“I have always seen a certain worry on his [Nana Addo] face. And once I tried to enquire, ‘why do you always have this look?’ and then he says I am worried for my people. We need to create a better life for my people. We need to create solutions for all my people. And when you look at his history, his whole movement in his life has been for empowering people. From ‘Ku me Preko’ till today, he is known everywhere as an advocate for human rights. He wanted real transformation and development and he put it into leadership. Transformational, visionary leadership! And that is all he has provided throughout his political life. So when he came to power, he made a plan.
He brought about the free SHS to make sure the minimum education of the average Ghanaian is a high school education”, he said.
The Free SHS policy is a policy of the government of Ghana that began in September 2017. Every child in Ghana who qualifies for, and is placed in a public Senior High School for his/her secondary education will have his/her fees absorbed by the government.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah