The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority in Parliament has accused President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Bawumia of attempting to deceive Ghanaians by claiming they have fulfilled their campaign promise to provide tablets to all Ghanaian students.
In a statement signed by Dr. Clement Apaak, MP for Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member of the Education Committee of Parliament, the NDC Minority stated that the government has failed to provide tablets to the majority of Ghanaian students.
According to the statement, the government has only provided 450,000 tablets through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), which is less than a quarter of the total number of students in the country.
The NDC Minority emphasized that the total number of students in public Senior High Schools (SHS) and Junior High Schools (JHS) stands at 2,780,115, based on data from the Ghana Education Service presented to Parliament during the 2024 budget process.
However, with only 450,000 tablets procured, it means that a staggering 2,330,115 students in both SHS and JHS will not receive the tablets. The 450,000 tablets are intended for SHS students, leaving 881,219 SHS students and all JHS students without tablets.
The NDC Minority further accused the government of failing to disclose the unit cost of the 450,000 tablets procured through GETFund, citing a lack of transparency and accountability. Additionally, the government has not provided a policy to guide the method of distribution and use of the tablets.
“Given that the government has not procured enough tablets to ensure that at least all SHS students get access to these tablets, what criteria will be used to decide and select which students in which schools are to receive these tablets?” the statement questioned.
The NDC Minority cautioned the government against selecting schools based on partisan political considerations, where schools in districts with NPP MPs are favored, and districts with non-NPP MPs are left out.
Dr. Clement Apaak called on Ghanaians to hold the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-led NPP government accountable for failing to fulfill its promise of providing tablets to all students in SHS and JHS, despite receiving the most revenue in the history of Ghana.
“Obviously, the government has once again failed to fulfill its promise to the people. Ghanaians, as usual, can be trusted to see through the razzmatazz attached to the launch of the programme and recognize it as an election campaign gimmick,” the statement concluded.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah|Bolgatanga|
