Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, a ranking member on the Education Select Committee in Parliament, has raised significant concerns regarding the proposed Free Senior High School (SHS) bill.

In an interview concerning the Ministry of Education’s proposed bill to merge Junior High School (JHS) with SHS on the Daybreak Upper East show on Tuesday, Mr. Nortsu-Kotoe highlighted constitutional complexities surrounding the government’s decision to merge JHS and SHS education under the new legislation.

He emphasized that merging JHS and SHS implies constitutional amendments, which are necessary before such a restructuring can be legally implemented.

He pointed out that altering the structure of Ghana’s education system requires adherence to constitutional protocols to ensure legality and compliance. “I don’t know why they are chasing their own shadows. Because they don’t know where to start and where to end. Their decision to merge Junior High School with Senior High School has constitutional implications,” he said.

“If you go to the constitution, we have basic education, secondary education and tertiary education. And basic education ends at Junior High School, so you cannot make the Junior High School part of the Senior High School until you amend the constitution. So let’s wait for them. Let them bring it and we’ll see what we can do,” the MP stated.

He stressed the need for policymakers to engage in comprehensive dialogue and constitutional review processes to address potential implications and ensure compliance with Ghana’s legal framework.

“As for making a law on the free SHS, we already know that there is a constitutional provision for it and there is a law also for it. So we don’t know what form they want it to be. If I listened to the Minister very well, the free SHS bill is not going to stand on its own. It’s going to be part of the new bill they are going to introduce, which deals with the restructuring of pre-tertiary education. So we’ll wait for them. As a parliament, we will wait for them so that when they come, we’ll see what we can do,” he said.

Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gifty Eyram Kudiabor|Bolgatanga