What occasioned the error in your Free SHS figures? – Apaak to Adutwum

The Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak has called on the Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Adutwum to explain to Ghanaians what caused the errors in the figures on Free Senior High School beneficiaries.

Former Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum says 3.5 million students have benefited from Ghana’s Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy since its inception and not 5.7 million beneficiaries earlier put out in the public domain.

Speaking on Joy News, the former Minister for Education, Dr Adutwum disclosed that, “It was some accounting error that happened.

“Unfortunately, it took us some time to discover that in education, we shouldn’t be using the numbers as so articulated by the finance ministry. There was an error in the figures previously mentioned, and I take full responsibility for that. The correct number of beneficiaries stands at 3.5 million.”

Commenting on the development, Dr. Apaak questioned how the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag bearer and President Akufo-Addo continued to put false figures during the elections and during the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“Error? When did you become aware of this error? If it was an error, why did your government, your President and your Flagbearer continue pushing an error on various media platforms, at campaign events, in campaign adverts on TV/Radio, and at SONA 2024 in the face of our rejection of these inflated figures? What occasioned the error? Saying it was an error cannot be enough.

“You must demonstrate to us how the error came to be, with evidence,” Dr. Apaak stated.