Clement Apaak, a member of parliament representing Builsa South and the deputy ranking member of the education committee, has voiced his concern with the government's alleged biased funding of education in support of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy.
The Builsa South lawmaker hinted that funding for basic education has been declining ever since the Free SHS policy was implemented, which he claimed has a bad effect on both enrollment and administration of elementary schools.
Mr. Apaak remarked in an interview on The Big Issue on Citi TV and Citi FM that the budgetary breakdown shows a "very disturbing downward trend" for spending for elementary and secondary education.
If you look at educational funding and the breakdown, it is very clear that since the implementation of the Free SHS policy, while the funding toward secondary education has been increasing, the funding for basic education has decreased. Therefore, when the CSOs claim there is some form of discrimination in terms of education funding in favor of secondary education as opposed to primary education, they are not just saying it; there is data and information to support that argument.
In an effort to salvage the public basic education system, which he claimed is in danger of failing, he urged for deliberate and immediate action to remedy the alleged unfair distributions.
"You cannot pretend to be building ultramodern junior high schools, building ultramodern senior high schools, and even creating more access at the tertiary level when your public basic school system is collapsing," said one observer.
Mr. Apaak continued, "How do you expect public basic schools to function when they lack textbooks and capitation grants have not been paid for six terms, which means that basic items like chalk, attendance registers, fixing worn-out furniture, and dilapidated buildings, cannot be supported."