Opinion: Apology Is Not an Option, Dr. Addo-Kufuor! – By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor

Ordinarily, I would have unreservedly agreed with Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor that President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo may have to suspend his campaign promise of providing a fee-free Senior High School education to all Ghanaian youths who qualify for the same. But the reality of the matter is that the high rate of illiteracy and the generally abject lack of access to adequate elementary, middle and high school education make it imperative for the government to implement this most significant and far-reaching human and economic development program immediately. Too long have Ghanaian children been denied what the children of most functional democracies take for granted that it has virtually become an unacceptable proposition to be young and Ghanaian in our time (See “Addo-Kufuor Cautions Against Hasty Implementation of Free SHS Policy” MyJoyOnline.com / Ghanaweb.com 7/18/17).

Asia 728x90

The younger brother of former President John Agyekum-Kufuor’s argument that if the fee-free SHS policy is hastily implemented, the government may have to source foreign funding to pay for it is worth considering, but it does not hold water, as it were, in the final analysis, because we have a shameful history of Ghanaian governments contracting foreign loan facilities to pay for far less significant policy initiatives. This unsavory state of affairs was what inspired Justice James Dotse to memorably describe the leaders of the erstwhile Mahama-led government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as one that was recklessly and unconscionably focused on a criminal culture of “creating, looting and sharing.” In the long term, if the Akufo-Addo Administration has to borrow from abroad to prepare our children and grandchildren for a more viable and brighter future, it would well have been worth such foresighted and courageous effort.

Needless to say, those regular readers of my columns who have been paying sedulous attention may be familiar with some of the suggestions that I have made in the recent past, regarding possible ways of successfully implementing the fee-free SHS policy initiative. If, indeed, the government may not be able to source adequate funding to implement this most salutary and progressive program at full-throttle, what it could do as an alternative would be to stagger the implementation of this policy in stages, thereby remarkably reducing the initial cost of the same. For instance, students who will begin their final year in September could have their school fees fully covered by the government, while those in their third year are offered a decent relief of 75-percent tuition rebate. This means that third-year students could be required to pay just a quarter of their total tuition fees, while second-year students are required to pay just half or 50-percent of their tuition fees.

And then first-year students could be required to pay three-quarters or 75-percent of their tuition fees. The preceding temporary payment plan could then be phased out in two years, while the government either looks for or create adequate funding sources to pick up the tab for the entire program in the foreseeable future, as promised by then-Candidate Akufo-Addo in the lead-up to Election 2016. For now, this tuition rebate formula could apply to only children of parents within a certain specified income bracket, which means that the children of most big-time politicians and rich businessmen and women will not qualify until such time as the government is able to cover the entire budgetary tab involved in the full implementation of the program.

We must also recall the fact that had former President John Dramani Mahama been upfront with the electorate as far back as 2008, when he was the running-mate of then-Candidate John Evans Atta-Mills, but particularly in 2012, the fee-free SHS program would already have been in progress. Back then, in a devious bid to preempting Nana Akufo-Addo’s chances of gaining a foothold in the Flagstaff House, Mr. Mahama had also promised a fee-free SHS program. And then as practical reality set in, the former Atta-Mills’ arch-lieutenant began talking about creating access by building at least some 200 so-c0alled  Community Day High Schools. The last time that anybody checked, not even 20-percent of these schools had been built.

Now, we can talk about the reconfiguration of the curricula of our present elementary, middle and high school system a bit later. In the meantime, suffice it to observe right now that President Akufo-Addo has absolutely no option called “Apology” or “Apologies” for his failure to implement the fee-free SHS policy come September 2017. The fact of the matter is that Ghanaians did not vote for Messrs. Akufo-Addo and Mahamudu Bawumia to theatrically stage a play at the Chinese-constructed National Theater called “We Apologize.” Come on, gentlemen, let the show go on pronto. And it is called “Free SHS Now or Never!”

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com  Ghanaffairs

The opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views or have the endorsement of the Editorial Board of www.africanewsanalysis.com and www.zongonews.com