Food for cash saga justifies review of Free SHS – Africa Education Watch

The Africa Education Watch says the emerging issue of corruption in the Free SHS Feeding programme gives even more reason for the Free SHS policy to be reviewed.

Executive Director of the organization, Kofi Asare, noted that usually people get “jittery and paranoid” when the issue of reviewing the Free SHS policy is raised. However, the call for a review is justified as every policy has some kind of challenge no matter how good it is.

“We need to sit and review the Free SHS policy in order to strengthen it. There is no policy in Ghana that does not have challenges. The Free Senior High School policy is one of the best policies ever in the education sector. We have implemented the Capitation Grant and the Free Compulsory Universal Education.

We are in the 15th year but as I speak to you, a lot of people learn under trees and schools don’t have text books. So, let’s not pretend that the Free SHS is the only policy with challenges,”he told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show.

While Kofi Asare admitted that some schools are facing financial difficulties, he shared that it is in no way a justification for the heads of the schools to engage in corruption.

He was thus appreciative of the fact that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Education Service (GES) are probing into the case of fifty-three headmasters alleged to have been involved in Free SHS Feeding programme corruption.

Background

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has commenced investigations into over 50 schools in the Ashanti Region believed to be engaged in corruption in the implementation of the School Feeding Programme under the Free Senior High School Policy.

While not much information has been provided, it is understood that officials of some schools have in the past been involved in acts of exchanging food for cash.

Following this decision to investigate these heads, the CID has written to notify the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ashanti Region directorate of the ongoing investigations.

Meanwhile, all District directors of education have been asked to release headmasters, headmistresses, assistant heads, domestic bursars, accountants, and storekeepers who may be required to assist in the investigations.