Senior Presidential Advisor, Yaw Safo-Marfo has assured the people of Ghana that the Akufo-Addo led administration led flagship Free Senior High School (Free SHS) will not be touched as the government negotiates with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an economic bailout.
Speaking at an event in Accra, Mr. Osafo-Marfo has also dismissed calls for the IMF to demand expenditure cuts to the Free SHS policy.
He said “If there is any sector that we should not touch the expenditure, that sector is education. Because we are protecting the potential use of our resources in a very efficient and effective manner
“So, if you touch education, you are undermining your own development paradigm. So, that is not the area to go when you decide to cut expenditure”, he added.
“People have written and I have read in the papers arguing that one of the first IMF should look at as they admit us into the IMF programme is to cut the Free SHS. Let me tell you here and now, we are negotiating with the IMF and Free SHS will not be touched, we cannot touch it”, he stressed.
He says the IMF is a pro-poor institution and so there is no way they will demand cuts in Free SHS expenditure.
“The IMF itself as an institution is pro-poor, the IMF itself believes in education so how can the IMF ask you to cut Free SHS? Don’t you have free SHS in America, don’t you have Free SHS in Germany, don’t you have it in Europe?
“Most of the developed world has Free SHS, so we are taking the right path towards development and I can assure you that the IMF will not touch the Free SHS”, he said.
