Release GETFund cash now! — Prof Kingsley Nyarko tells Finance Ministry following SHS placement crisis
The Member of Parliament for Kwadaso, Hon. Prof. Kingsley Nyarko, has called on the Ministry of Finance to urgently release adequate GETFund resources to support the expansion of educational infrastructure and ease the challenges confronting the Senior High School (SHS) placement exercise.
According to Prof. Nyarko, Ghana cannot continue to produce qualified students only for them to struggle to secure places in SHSs because of inadequate infrastructure.
He made the call during the commissioning of a six-unit classroom block at the Nyankyerenease Methodist Basic School, where he appealed to the Ministries of Finance and Education to take decisive steps to address the difficulties faced by students and parents during the placement process.
No Child Should Be Left Behind
Prof. Nyarko stressed that every Ghanaian child who qualifies for SHS must have the opportunity to continue his or her education, regardless of infrastructure and financial constraints.
He urged the Ministers of Finance and Education to treat the issue as a national priority and collaborate to remove the bottlenecks affecting the placement exercise.
The Kwadaso MP particularly appealed to the Finance Ministry to ensure the timely release of adequate GETFund funding, warning that efforts to expand school infrastructure would remain constrained without the necessary financial resources.
Finance Ministry Under Pressure
Prof. Nyarko said Ghana needed a more aggressive approach to the development of educational infrastructure to effectively address the growing pressure on the SHS placement system.
He called for increased classroom and dormitory capacity, as well as the expansion of other essential facilities needed to accommodate the rising number of students.
He maintained that the challenges associated with SHS placement could not be permanently resolved without creating additional spaces in existing schools and expanding infrastructure where necessary.
Don’t Let Infrastructure Deny a Child an Education
The Kwadaso MP said financial and infrastructure challenges should not determine whether a qualified student gets the opportunity to pursue secondary education.
He therefore urged the Finance Ministry to release the needed GETFund resources to enable schools to expand their capacity and accommodate more students.
For Prof. Nyarko, the issue requires urgent action because the consequences of delaying infrastructure expansion could affect the educational prospects of thousands of qualified students.
“No child should be left behind,” he stated.