The Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr. Gideon Boako, has called on government to finance the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme with domestic revenue rather than borrowed funds.
The Tano North MP argued that government must demonstrate its commitment to education by prioritising locally generated revenue for the sustainability of the flagship education policy.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Dr. Boako questioned why government was unable to raise enough domestic revenue to support Free SHS but had to rely on borrowing to fund the programme.
“We want to ask the Finance Minister what government is doing and why we are not able to raise revenue to support education, but we have to go and borrow to finance Free SHS,” he said.
He said education remains a critical national investment and should be supported through a reliable financing structure that does not increase the country’s debt burden.
Dr. Boako also compared the current financing approach to that of the previous administration, insisting that the Free SHS programme introduced under the erstwhile government was not funded through loans.
“The Free SHS that was introduced by the erstwhile administration didn’t resort to borrowing to finance it. The Ghanaian people want to see the government prioritising education and thereby prioritising Free SHS,” he stated.
He urged the government to strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation to create sustainable funding for the programme rather than depend on external financing.
According to Dr. Boako, improving revenue generation remains the most dependable way to protect Free SHS and ensure that future generations continue to benefit from the policy.
