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There seems to be some confusion among key functionaries of the government over the source of funding for the upcoming implementation of its ‘Free SHS’ programme.
While some are clamouring for the use of the Heritage Fund, a provident fund set up by the Petroleum Revenue Management (PRM) Act 815 to receive a percentage of petroleum revenue determined by Parliament as an endowment to support development for future generations when petroleum reserves have been depleted, to sponsor the programme, some are saying the fund is a no go area.
The President, Nana Akufo-Addo speaking as the special guest of honour at the 60th-anniversary celebrations of the Okuapeman School at Akropong Akuapem last Saturday, announced government’s intention to “fund the cost of public Senior High Schools for all those who qualify for entry from the 2017/2018 academic year onwards”.
“By Free SHS, we mean that, in addition to tuition, which is already free, there will be no admission fees, no library fees, no science centre fees, no computer lab fees, no examination fees, no utility fees; there will be free textbooks, free boarding and free meals, and day students will get a meal at school for free”, he explained, adding that, “Free SHS will also cover agricultural, vocational and technical institutions at the high school level. I also want to state clearly again that we have a well thought-out plan that involves the building of new public senior high schools and cluster public senior high schools”.
READ ALSO: Akufo-Addo reveals starting date of ‘Free SHS’
A few days after the President’s announcement, his Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo hinted that government may use parts of the Heritage fund to support the Free SHS policy.
“We have to make an amendment to say that X percent of the Heritage Fund or the Petroleum Fund will be used to support second cycle education. If we think that industry requires a certain stimulus that will enable jobs to be created and you are creating a job to build Ghana, you can look at it and put in a certain amount”, he suggested at a business forum in Accra on Tuesday.
Many have questioned this suggestion with the IMANI policy think tank saying that the use of the Heritage Fund will not be sustainable because the annual cost of Free SHS far exceeds the total amount of money in the fund
“Total proceeds that we have sitting in the Petroleum Fund now – some rough computation suggest we have a little over $300 million. How much do we need to invest in free education annually? Rough computations suggest something in excess of $600million if we have to do it right and do it well. Now if you decide to go and take the resources out of your Petroleum Fund, clearly it still doesn’t fix your entire financing problem that you need and all of that is gone in just a year. Not that it’s a bad thing in itself, you should be able to demonstrate, for example, that it’s going to be sustainable for the long term and whatever they are putting in there goes in there, but we haven’t heard all of these things”, IMANI Africa’s Head of Economics, Patrick Stephenson has stated.
The Minority in Parliament have also waded in and described the suggestions as an incompetent way of redeeming a campaign promise and a clear show of a lack of ideas by government.
According to them, they will fiercely resist any attempt by government to finance its free SHS policy with the Heritage fund because the fund is a future investment which must not be touched now .
“We join the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians and civil society groups to register our strongest disapproval and objection to this idea. We wish to state emphatically that we shall resist any attempt to amend the petroleum revenue management act. In drafting the act, a lot of thinking and consultation was put into this act which led by the finance ministry. International development partners were consulted and lessons were drawn from the best practices in oil producing countries world over. The act is a product of national consensus and has both executive and legislative approvals,” MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam and a former Deputy Minister of Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson stated while addressing a press conference in parliament.
READ ALSO: Akufo-Addo’s decision to use Heritage fund for free SHS shows lack of ideas – Minority
But commenting on the debate on the use of the Heritage Fund for Free SHS in an interview on Joy FM, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, stated that categorically that government had no intention of touching the Heritage Fund to bankroll the Free Senior High School policy.
“We are not going to touch the Heritage Fund to be able to support the free SHS education,” he insisted.
Though this may be reassuring for the many staunch defenders of the Heritage Fund, it brings to the fore a seeming lack of coordination in government.
Mr Osafo-Maafo, during vetting, explained that as Senior Minister, his primary role in government was to coordinate the economic sector ministries and with the Finance Ministry being the number one in the sector, it is worrisome that they are not singing from the same page.
Mr Ofori-Atta’s denial could well be a planned strategy from government in the face of agitations against the Senior Minister’s apparent testing of waters but if it is not, then the government could be well described as one which is lacking coordination if not confused.
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