Ghanaian actor Van has endorsed the Free Senior High School programme instituted by Nana Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

In a Facebook post, he wrote that the policy has enabled people who would never have had the opportunity to taste secondary education, to do so.

“The FREE SHS program has enabled hundreds of thousands of Ghanaian youth to further their education.
It is not a perfect system (yet) but for the fact that an SHS student dropout can return to the classroom or for the fact that a JHS student can continue his/her secondary education for FREE is incredible,” he indicated.

Van Vicker added that he would have enrolled at the university back in 1996 IF THE FREE SHS PROGRAM EXISTED but unfortunately, it didn’t.

“My secondary education expenses depleted mama’s savings so I kissed my dream of being a gynecologist goodbye. My narration today is not to say I regret my current profession but rather to unequivocally state that THE FREE SHS PROGRAM BENEFITS OUR YOUTH and only if it was implemented back in my day, my mother would have SAVED enough to eventually fund my tertiary education,” he further noted.

A few days ago, Van Vicker registered his displeasure at a statement made by Shirley Ayorkor-Botchway, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs who made a statement on one of the campaign platforms of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The Member of Parliament for Anya’s-Sowutuom, Shirley Ayorkor-Botchway had suggested that parliament is too serious a place for actor John Dumelo who is contesting for Member of Parliament at Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Van, like most showbiz people, said Shirley’s statement was an insult to the intelligence of people in the arts sector.

Van Vicker is an actor, a filmmaker, an entrepreneur, a philanthropist, and a businessman.

About NPP’s Free SHS policy

After taking the reins of government, the New Patriotic Party launched the Free Senior High School programme, which had been their major campaign promise.

This policy was meant to cover free tuition, admission fee, textbooks, library fees, science center fees, fees for ICT, examination fees, payment of utility fees, boarding, and meals.

Implementation of the Free SHS Programme commenced in September 2017 with every Ghanaian child who was placed into a public second cycle institution by the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) during the 2017 school placement eligible to enjoy Free SHS.

The government absorbed all fees approved by the GES Council for 353,053 first-year students made up of 113,622 Day students and 239,431 Boarding students.

The first cohort of students under the programme has since graduated, while, currently, total Free SHS enrolment stands at 1,199,750 students, with the government spending 2.2billion cedis since the launch of the programme.

Source: Citinewsroom.com