Asantehene extols free SHS in South Africa

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has extolled the significance of the Free Senior High School as a key policy towards poverty eradication in Ghana.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has therefore reiterated his desire to see the development of education on the African Continent in order to help bridge the gap wealth and poverty.

According to him, education is the only thing "that draws fine line between wealth, development and progress on one side and poverty and retrogression on the other hand".

The Asantehene said it was in line with this objective that in 1999, he led the Asante Kingdom to launch and establish the Otumfuo Education Fund to support the needy across all regions, an initiative which has benefited thousands of children from secondary through to tertiary levels.

Addressing Ghana's 61st Independence Anniversary celebration hosted by the Ghana High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II noted that he was therefore very happy when the President of Ghana, His Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in September last year, rolled out the Free Senior High School policy to give opportunity to every single Ghanaian to have access to high school education.

"It was therefore a source of joy for me when His Excellency the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced September last that secondary or high school education would henceforth be completely free" He noted, emphasizing that the policy ties in perfectly with his humble vision of development and progress on the continent.

Whilst paying tribute to past traditional rulers in the Asante Kingdom for their immense support towards the country's political emancipation, the Asantehene also urged Ghanaians across the globe to mark this year's celebration of Ghana's Independence with a personal and collective decision to do more, contribute more and be flagbearers of development of the country.

On his part, Ghana's High Commissioner to South Africa, His Excellency, Mr. George Ayisi Boateng, said government was on track in the pursuit of political and economic excellence as envisioned by the forebears.

He explained that the concept of "Ghana Beyond Aid" being touted by the President of Ghana is not to disclaim Aid but rather discard the mindset of dependency, stressing that the concept means "mobilizing and leveraging domestic savings and revenues transparently; expand financial inclusion with credit services and financing through local capital markets.