A Ranking Member on Education Committee in Parliament, Hon. Peter Nortsu-Kotoe has called government’s plan to introduce a bill on free SHS needless.
Noting that requests for an official policy paper on free SHS have been made to both the current and previous education ministers for the past seven to eight years, Nortsu-Kotoe questioned the necessity of a law to govern or solidify the free SHS system.
But Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin contended that passing a Free SHS Act will make the programme a legitimate right rather than just an ideal, enabling people to take legal action if it is not carried out.
Nortsu-Kotoe, however, cited Act 25 (1b) of the constitution in an interview with JoyNews monitored by Puretvonline.com on June 11. This article requires that secondary education, including technical and vocational training, be gradually become free; the process started in 2015.
He implied that extra legal protections are unnecessary and that the way the current government is implementing the Free SHS policy is in line with public expectations.
“There is no need for any law to regulate or entrench the Free SHS programme. As a committee on education, we have asked the previous minister and the current one that we want to see a free senior high school policy or document, and for seven to eight years now, we have not been able to provide the committee with the policy document. If you don’t even have a policy, on what basis are you going to pass the law?” he questioned.
Nortsu-Kotoe went on to explain, saying, “Act 25 (1b) of the constitution stipulates that secondary education in all its forms—technical and vocational included—should be gradually made free. We began this process in 2015.”
“So, for this government to have come to office and implemented it as they wanted, I don’t think any Ghanaian has a problem with that. For me, enacting a law to protect it or whatever is neither here nor there.”
The debate continues as the government pushes forward with its legislative agenda.