Over one million students to benefit from Free SHS – Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has indicated that come September, over one million students across all senior high schools will continue to enjoy the Free Senior High School policy introduced and implemented in 2017.
Speaking at the 4th graduation ceremony of the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani in the Bono Region, the President said 1.2 million students will be enrolled in High Schools across the country under the policy.
He noted “It is, thus, inevitable that, from 2020, when the first batch of free SHS students graduate, our universities and other tertiary institutions will be confronted with the challenge of higher numbers of students seeking admission.”
As a result, Government, he said, is undertaking a comprehensive programme of expanding infrastructure at the various tertiary institutions to accommodate the expected higher numbers.
The President explained this intervention will provide opportunities for young people to further their education, pursue their dreams, and, ultimately, contribute their quota to the development of the country.
“I am happy to announce that the pledge we made to construct the 5 kilometres of access roads for the University is being fulfilled. A contract worth GH¢7.9 million has been awarded to Messrs JOFASM Limited, and the road will be completed in 18 months. The contractor will be on site by the end of this month,” he said excitedly.
He then congratulated the graduating class for their relentless effort in pursuing their dreams and urged the University board to continue on the path to achieve more heights.
He reiterated, “From an initial graduating class of 154 students to 1,100 students in 2019, President Akufo-Addo stated that “for a University that was only established in 2012, you have done well for yourselves in attempting not only to rub shoulders with the top Universities in the country, but also to set yourself apart from others on the continent.”
President Akufo-Addo applauded the authorities of the University for their decision to establish a Medical School for the training of doctors not only to serve the three regions of Bono, Bono East and Ahafo, but also to serve the towns and communities along the entire western corridor of the country.
Nonetheless, he appealed to “this specialized university to try not to deviate, as others have done, too much from its core mandate of being a natural resource and science and engineering based university, set up specifically to train the critical manpower required for the growth and development of the energy and natural resource sectors of our nation.”