No donations yet to Free SHS Voluntary Fund since establishment — Former NUGS President

The Free Senior High School (SHS) Voluntary Fund, which was established in 2018 to receive donations from the public to support the flagship Free SHS policy, has not received any contributions to date.

This is according to Dennis Appiah Larbi-Ampofo, former president of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) and a member of the NPP's manifesto team on education.

Speaking on Accra-based Asaase Radio's Press Pass program on Wednesday, June 26, Larbi-Ampofo said "I remember there were discussions about setting up a fund for parents willing to contribute to help."

He added "Some parents expressed their willingness to donate, and we discussed creating an account for this purpose. For the record, there is an account at the Free SHS secretariat for this, and I can confidently confirm that nobody has donated to it."

The fund was proposed by the government as a way for voluntary support from Ghanaians towards implementing the Free SHS policy.

Former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta at the time said it was created based on several public recommendations to establish an education fund for voluntary contributions.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum is expected to present the Free SHS Bill to Parliament soon.

The bill aims to not only clarify some modalities of the policy's implementation but also protect its operationalization.