GH¢1.2 billion in 2018 budget for Free SHS

• Posted on November 14, 2017
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

The government intends to allocate about GH¢1.2 billion towards a successful running of the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme in 2018.

The government injected GH¢400 million into the programme in its maiden year. The capital injection has been tripled with the aim of tackling bottlenecks that have characterized the programme in the first year.

Next year’s allocation is expected to be announced Wednesday, when the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, presents the 2018 Budget and Economic Policy Statement to Parliament.

The Free SHS programme will benefit over 100,000 students next year.

President Nana Akufo-Addo says the Free SHS programme is geared towards bridging the gap between the rich and poor as the best antidote to poverty is education.

The policy is one of the government’s flagship programmes.

Its successful implementation and running will earn government great praise due to how Ghanaians voted massively for the party amidst doubts by the then Mahama administration and the NDC party.

The president has asserted that the flagship program will be funded with revenue from the nation’s oil resources but it is not clear whether government will explore other sources of revenue generation to fund it amidst the expected increase in capital injection.

By EllSamwise King (www.233times.net)