They argue that the policy will reduce the demand for enrollment in private Senior High Schools.

[contextly_sidebar id=”JjW9yXUGe2yTTOkhTQ4vC7iZVb5ITBu1″]Government has announced that it will begin processes for the implementation of its free SHS policy this September.

But speaking to Citi News, the Public Relations Officer of CHOPSS, Naphtali Kyei Baffour, said the policy when implemented will put them out of business.

“It is an undeniable fact that the private sector is the engine of growth for development. Therefore any policy that seeks to collapse the activities of private sector should be reconsidered. That is why we believe that inasmuch as the [Free SHS] policy is very good as it seeks the well-being and interests of students, parents and Ghanaians as a whole, it is also imperative that as we sit, we look at factors that can help the private ones to be sustained.”

“Private schools sustain their existence from the mop up they get from candidates with aggregate 30 to whatever grade. Now it has been extended to 42 so our question now is; with the introduction of free SHS, we are yet to hear from government if they are going to the old system where the cutoff point will be pegged at 30 or they will still operate with the existing one like aggregate 40, 42. If it still happens like that, then those who did not qualify for admission into public institutions that we relied on, now because it is free and they will still be qualified, it means that come two years, three years, four years, there will be no private school existing.”

While CHOPSS is worried that the introduction of the policy might push private schools out of business, some groups and political parties have expressed concerns over moves to use the Heritage Fund for the implementation of the policy.

But the Minister of Finance , Ken Ofori-Atta, on Friday indicated that, the fund will not be used to implement the policy.

Speaking to Citi Business News after an event organized by Achimota School as part of its 90th anniversary, Mr. Ofori Atta insisted that government will not finance the project from the Heritage Fund, but promised that details for funding it will be provided in the budget.

“We are financing the Free SHS education without looking at the Heritage Fund. As far as I know the Senior Minister did not say we will finance the Free SHS with the Heritage Fund. He alluded at looking at other options for us to be able to finance the Free SHS,” he said.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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There was a suggestion from the Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo that government would consider reviewing the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to allow for the use of the Heritage Fund to finance the free SHS policy.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Ftcb6BsiZRH6G2iReCTp6lSIs12pUJ4W”]But the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, refuted the suggestion, saying government would be financing the free SHS policy without touching the Heritage Fund.

Speaking on The Big Issue, Mr. Ofori Owusu viewed this as symptomatic of the lack of engagement and clarity with stakeholders on the part government.

“You have a limited allocation of resources and in the limited allocation of resources, you must give us the priority areas, and with the priority areas, there is the allocation thereof in pursuit of that.”

“Government must give us its priority areas. Government must give us a road map. If you don’t give a road-map for citizens to understand where it is you want to go, and for us to also create a culture to support where you want to go, you will have problems.”

With this in mind, Mr. Ofori Owusu said the discussion on funding for the Free SHS policy would be mute if it was not tied to an overarching policy of development.

“For me, the issue of SHS is just a tiny drop in the bucket of the total reformation process of our education… To me, the focus should not be on a Heritage Fund per say. The focus should be on what the total reformation policy of government is; and what is the road-map in achieving that particular policy.”

Free SHS a political gimmick

Mr. Ofori Owusu also expressed some cynicism with what he called the politicization of education, as he suggested that the promise of Free High school education was only a ploy for votes.

“Do you know why people talk about SHS? It is because they think SHS people can vote. You see how politicians have taken education and politicized it. They are looking at SHS students because they think that if they make it free for SHS students, some of them aged 18 and 19 can vote.”

“So it is a voting mindset that we are using to fix an education system that begins at pre-school. If you have 1.5 million young people on the street as a result of not passing the BECE exams, I don’t see how the free SHS will solve the problem. It is for those who pass.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NPP gov’t must outline its priority areas – PPP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Information Minister was justifying a suggestion by the Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo to the effect that, government would consider reviewing the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to allow for the use of the Heritage Fund to finance the free SHS policy.

[contextly_sidebar id=”sRBFX8PZH7ue7Z677rPcLXkwx0dstFYj”]The proposal by Mr Osafo-Maafo attracted some criticism and was followed by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta refuting the suggestion and saying “we are financing the Free SHS education without looking at the Heritage Fund.”

Despite the contrasting remarks from the two ministers, Mr. Hamid insists that there was no contradiction from government.

“The reason why I say there is no contradiction is that from 2008 when President Akufo-Addo mooted the idea of Free SHS, he said that he wanted to use the oil money to fund free SHS.”

He explained President Akufo-Addo’s reasoning saying: “in his [President Akufo-Addo’s] view, oil resources run out, but if you have an educated population, you have quality human resource, that is not a resource that runs out. Indeed he has said consistently that countries like Singapore, Malaysia have all gotten to where they are because of education.”

“He believed at the time that every citizen of Ghana should have the benefit of the oil money. Now how are you going to have the benefit of the oil money? You are going to have the benefit of the oil money if it is put directly to your benefit in educating you,” Mr. Hamid explained.

He spoke further of President Akufo-Addo’s vision of democratising wealth in the country “by ensuring that every child who goes to secondary school will go on the benefit of the oil money.”

“Now the Heritage fund is oil money. The stabilisation fund is oil money. Whatever components of the oil money we have divided into segments is still oil money,” Mr. Hamid asserted.

Section 10 (1) of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815), established the Heritage Fund, which is to serve as an endowment for future generations, and which cannot be touched unless after 15 years of its establishment.

With this in mind, Mr. Hamid surmised that if government was to spend the Heritage fund on the free SHS policy, it would not fall foul of the spirit behind the act.

“You are looking in the next 10 or 20 years to have an entirely educated population and once you do that, your future is guaranteed. Whichever way you look at it, spending oil money on education is guaranteeing the future which is the purpose of the Heritage Fund. Heritage means the future and you are educating your future population.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nothing wrong with Heritage Fund for free SHS – Hamid appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

There was a suggestion from the Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo that government would consider reviewing the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to allow for the use of the Heritage Fund to finance the free SHS policy.

But the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta refuted the suggestion, saying government would be financing the free SHS policy without touching the Heritage Fund which is said to have under $300 million in it.

The minority in a statement signed by its Deputy Leader, James Afedzi, said the contradictions were an indication of confusion within the government hence its call to President Akufo-Addo to expatiate further.

“The statements of these two ministers clearly show there is total confusion in the new administration as to how their campaign promises will be funded. It is therefore not clear which of these two top minster of the NPP government is speaking the truth.”

“The Minority is, therefore, calling on his Excellency the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to come out and clarify the true position of his government. The minority wants him to tell Ghanaians whether his government will use or not use the Heritage fund for the SHS education.”

What Nana Addo said about Heritage Fund in 2011 as opposition leader

The then presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party-NPP and now President, Nana Akufo-Addo, on Thursday 3rd February, 2011, made the following statement in reaction to suggestions by the then ruling NDC to collateralize the oil revenue (Specifically Heritage Fund).

“He said; “The party supports the establishment of a Heritage Fund as proposed in the bill and encourages Parliament to provide the necessary precautions to ensure that its value is not eroded over time. It is important to remind ourselves that the principle underpinning the creation of a Heritage Fund is to provide for future generations whereas the principle of collateralize is to “make hay while the sun shines” or “to have your lunch and dinner at breakfast”.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nana Addo must come clean on funding for free SHS – Minority appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The fund has so far accrued almost $300 million, and some civil society groups have projected it will cost government an estimated 3.5 billion Ghana cedis annually to implement the policy.

[contextly_sidebar id=”hYVOlXu4qHn7Mzvnhc9SqmqW2fywAHep”]The Heritage Fund is one of THE three accounts established under the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, and the fund receives 9 per cent of petroleum revenues, and was created for the country’s future generation.

The political parties thus want government to stay off the fund.

The Policy Adviser of the Progressive Peoples Party ( PPP), Kofi Asamoah Siaw , advised government to look for other alternatives in funding the free SHS policy.

“How they are going to fund it also is a wrong attempt; because we would have wished that it is the oil money itself. The stabilization fund plus the one that goes directly into government revenue must be used to do something significant and that something significant is to fund the compulsory education injunction placed on the republic of Ghana; so Stabilization Fund should be left alone and Heritage Fund should also be left alone.”

The Convention Peoples Party’s (CPP) Communications Director, Kadir Raul Abdul, also finds the proposal unacceptable and inappropriate.

“The Convention People’s Party should not encourage the idea that the current government should use the Heritage Fund to fund the free SHS. We are saying this on principle. Heritage Fund arises from our oil discovery. Oil is an exhaustible resource. The mineral resources that we have are exhaustible so I think that it is a sign of a responsible government in making decisions, to be mindful of the development aspirations of the current generation as well; and not compromise that of the future generation. So we think that the idea of free SHS is good; but to fund through the Heritage Fund which was set aside for a particular purpose will be a defeat for that purpose.”

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By: Franklin Badu Jnr & Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post PPP, CPP kick against moves to use Heritage Fund for free SHS appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

It said the government should rather focus on growing the fund which is still relevant and will serve a very important purpose in the future.

[contextly_sidebar id=”IyFCvi5ZRtlhlWLHn4teQDoKtA5Ki0Nb”]A statement signed by the Deputy Executive Director of ACEP, Benjamin Boakye, said, although ACEP supports the use of the fund for pro-poor sectors of education agriculture, it wants the government to be minded by the Petroleum Revenue Act, Act 815 which guides the use of the fund.

Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo on Tuesday [14th February] told the media that government will get the necessary legislation to enable it use the Heritage Fund which is 9 percent of the revenue accrued to Ghana from its crude oil proceeds to finance the president’s Free Senior High School policy.

But ACEP said, “much as we support the use of oil revenue for financing education, we want government to recognize the significance of the heritage fund and not touch it.”

Read details of ACEP’s statement below:

ACEP has been campaigning for the use oil revenue to finance the pro-poor sectors of education and agriculture for four years. Therefore, we cannot, in principle, be against the use of oil revenue to finance education. However, we want to alert government that the petroleum revenues are governed by the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), Act 815, which was passed after deep consultation with citizens,” it said.

In spite of many implementation challenges, the PRMA has been a model for many countries and Ghana can only do better at improving on transparency and accountability around the use of the oil revenues. Much as we support the use of oil revenue for financing education, we want government to recognize the significance of the heritage fund and not touch it.

ACEP therefore states its position on the use of oil revenue to finance the free SHS as follows;

1. Heritage Fund Still Relevant– the principle of intergenerational equity which informed the establishment of the fund ensure that ownership of the resources is shared among the living and the yet unborn. It also ensures sustenance of revenue flow after the oil has been exhausted.

It is easier to assume that those of us living today can invest the heritage fund to benefit the future generation. This assumption is overly simplistic and takes away the right of the future generation to decide on their own priorities.

The heritage fund represents about 9% of Benchmark Revenue (BR), leaving 91% of the BR for the national budget. This conservative amount left for the future should not attract uncontrolled appetite to spent.

For the past 6 years the total payments made into the fund plus interest is $277 million. This is not enough to fund only about 3 years of the cost items to be waived by government estimated to be about GHS327million, holding the 2015 enrolment constant. With anticipated growth in enrollment occasioned by the programme, the heritage fund could be woefully inadequate to sustain the free SHS programme.

2. Use the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) – The credible window for financing the free SHS policy from oil revenues will be through the ABFA. It must however be highlighted that the current architecture of the PRMA allows for only 30% of the ABFA for recurrent expenditure.

Given that most of the cost items for the implementation of the Free SHS are recurrent expenditures, government will have to amend the law to be able to spend more that 30% of the ABFA. 

ACEP will want to recommend that;

1. Government should continue to grow the Heritage Fund. The purpose of establishing the fund is still valid today and we should not deny the future generation an opportunity to decide what they do with their share of the resources as was done by past leader with mineral revenues.

2. The PRMA should be amended to allow 50% of the ABFA to support the Free SHS programme. This will be a more equitable way of distributing the resources than financing “ghost project” through thin distribution of oil revenues.

3. Reduce allocation to GNPC – Government should take steps to streamline the operations of GNPC to focus on its core mandate and redirect some of its allocation into the budget to finance education.

4. Use part of Solid Mineral Revenue to support the Free SHS– this is an opportunity for government to introduce governance framework similar to the PRMA on mineral revenues and allocate portion of mineral revenues to education.

5. Government should recognize that the capital budget of the education sector has been lower than 6% of the total sector budget in recent past, therefore, education sector financing should equally be big on improving the asset base of the sector.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

The post Stay away from Heritage Fund – ACEP warns gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Winful indicated that, the fund had less than $300 million, while some analysts say the free SHS policy could cost the country GH¢3.6 billion yearly.

[contextly_sidebar id=”BWxlZiNsMS1CZQyWTxIfp9ow7BiWW3lX”]“The amount is less than $300 million and the interest is not that significant so even if you exhaust the whole thing with its interest, the amount may not suffice for that type of expenditure,” the PIAC Chairman said.

This follows reports that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government could review the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to allow for the use of the Heritage Fund to finance its free SHS policy.

He noted that, the rationale behind the Fund, is to ensure some security for the country’s future generations, hence dipping into the Fund will require a repeal of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.

Section 10 (1) of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815), established the Heritage Fund, which is supposed to serve as an endowment for future generations, and which cannot be touched unless after 15 years of its establishment.

Mr. Winful indicated that, PIAC would be unhappy with any attempt to amend the law just allow money to be drawn from the fund.

“I would have thought that putting the provision of 15 years in will give us the grace to make sure that we accumulate sufficiently and then we have adequate resources. I would be disappointed and I am sure members of PIAC will be disappointed too if we immediately start amending our laws not for the improvement of it; but in order to dip our hands into it, because already we are concerned about the effective management of the petroleum revenues.”

PIAC awaiting government’s move

Despite the hints government may review the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to allow for the use of the Heritage Fund to finance its free SHS policy, Mr. Winsome said PIAC was awaiting more concrete indications from government before it takes any action.

He suggested that perhaps, Mr. Osafo-Maafo, the Senior Minister, may have been misquoted or was just playing politics.

“We will wait until the action is actually initiated in order to have these provisions amended before we will come out to meet and discuss what we have to say or will have to present to the authorities. We believe that there is political talk and exact talk…We don’t know if this is a statement that came in or the honourable minister was misreported or misquoted.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post $300m Heritage Fund not enough for Free SHS – PIAC Chair appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has hinted of reviewing the Petroleum Management Act to allow for the use of the Heritage Fund to finance its ambitious Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.

[contextly_sidebar id=”AjnsEYINV0R20jD1aeKpmTJE8F1JDLMQ”]The Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, at a forum in Accra on Tuesday said the Heritage Fund, which receives nine percent of the country’s annual petroleum revenue, will be used to sustain the program.

The fund was set up to support the country’s future generations when the oil reserves are depleted. Nine percent of the country’s annual petroleum revenue is paid into the fund.

However similar proposals were made by the previous National Democratic Congress administration and fiercely opposed by the NPP as noted by the Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi spoke on the Citi Breakfast Show.

“This is a government that says it has the men. This is a government that says it has the solution. Not knowing their mind was on the Heritage Fund without telling Ghanaians that when they come to power, all promises were going to fall on the fund that has been built up for the following generations. So I am completely confused about what it is. I don’t think that it is a proper thing because when the General Secretary of the NDC said we should us that fund, they were the same people that were up in arms against that proposal.”

Mr. Avedzi wondered further if the NPP were against the NDC’s proposal to use the Heritage Fund because they held the fund “as their hope in fulfilling their campaign promises. That was why they were against it.”

“You are in power for less than two months and you are falling on the fund that has been put together for the future generations which was done by the NDC government who was thinking about this government, but you want to destroy it as this early stage.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post It’s wrong to use Heritage Fund for free SHS – Avedzi appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.