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‘It Is Now Time To Review The Free SHS’ – Palmer-Buckle
Most Reverend Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle has suggested the Free Senior High School programme be reviewed.
“I support 100%, the free SHS policy,” he said at the launch of a book titled, ‘Accra ACA, Bleoo, The History of the Accra Academy from James Town to Bubuashie’, adding: “It is now time to have a stakeholder engagement to review the free SHS”.
The 726-page book was written by Simon Ontoyin, a graduate of the University of Ghana and an alumnus of Accra Academy.
In the cleric’s view, the programme can be tweaked to serve better, its purpose of providing free secondary education to all children irrespective of their financial background.
In July 2018, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta made a suggestion that the programme should target the poor.
Source: www.peacefmonline.com
“I can’t take my child to Achimota or Odorgonno and leave him or her there and drive away and not pay for anything while I can pay for ten people,” he said.
He noted, however: “We need to begin to get the data to then be discriminatory in how and who pays and who doesn’t pay.”
The need to make the programme a targeted one was first proposed by some groups like IMANI Africa and the National Association of Graduate Teachers, NAGRAT.
“Each soul is important. You would rather make that mistake, if it was a mistake, to get everybody in the system for the nation to then begin to have a conversation and say: ‘This is good for us because we want our human capital to be at a certain level but maybe, let’s begin to adjust it this way’”.
Source: www.peacefmonline.com
The Ghana First Alliance, a movement, is today staging a protest in Accra against the renewal of the mining licence of Gold Fields, a mining company owned by a South African citizen operating in Ghana.
The demonstration, dubbed “Operation No Contract Renewal: South Africa Must Go,” is being held to demand that government does not renew the company’s licence.
The group says their protest is linked to recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa by a protest group known as “march to march.”
They claim that many Ghanaian-owned shops were looted, while others were attacked, with some cases leading to deaths.
They also say the situation forced the Ghana government to evacuate thousands of Ghanaians from South Africa back to Ghana.
Speaking to some of the protesters, they said they will move to several key locations in Accra, including the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Jubilee House, where they intend to present their petition.
The protesters are calling on government to terminate the Gold Fields contract and hand over the mining concessions to capable Ghanaians to manage.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Ghana’s First Lady, Lordina Mahama, has made a generous donation to the country’s national female Under-17 and Under-20 teams – Black Maidens and Black Princesses- as they continue preparations for major international assignments.
The donation, made on Friday, May 22, was presented on behalf of the First Lady by the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, at the GFA Technical Centre in Prampram.
The gesture forms part of efforts to motivate and support Ghana’s young female footballers as they prepare to represent the country on the international stage.
The donation included essential food items and toiletries aimed at supporting the welfare and well-being of the players and technical teams.
The donation included cartons of Milo, T-rolls, soft drinks, toiletries, and a range of essential supplies aimed at supporting the welfare of the players, enhancing camp conditions, and easing preparations ahead of their respective assignments.
The Black Maidens are currently engaged in preparations for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers and are set to take on Liberia women’s national under-17 football team in the second-leg encounter in Liberia this weekend.
Meanwhile, the Black Princesses have already secured qualification to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup after overcoming Uganda in the qualifiers, extending Ghana’s remarkable record to eight consecutive appearances at the tournament.
The donation by the First Lady was expected to boost morale within both camps while reinforcing national support for the young female footballers who continue to make the country proud.
