President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed strong disagreement to critics that the Free senior high school programme was rushed in implementation.

He said government could not afford to allow thousands of qualified Ghanaian students to drop out after basic education.

Critics have argued that investment should have been made into infrastructural development before a full rollout of any policy to allow mass entry into senior high school.

The constitution is even cited as backing a progressively free senior high education.

Key among these critics are members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

But speaking at the induction ceremony of the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), President Akufo-Addo considered the critics of the free education policy to be in the minority.

He quoted Ecclesiastes 11:4 to back his decision to implement the policy in his first year.

“There are some – mercifully in the minority – who continue to state that all the infrastructure needs of our schools should have been addressed before the rollout of free SHS.

“I strongly disagree. I take comfort in the words of holy scripture in Ecclesiastes 11:4 and I quote: ‘If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never sow anything and never harvest anything’.

He said his government is proud to have taken the first bold step “because we cannot wait and watch as tens and tens of thousands of qualified Ghanaian children drop out of school”.

He has predicted an upsurge in candidates to enter tertiary institutes in 2020 as a result of the programme.

He has, therefore, admonished the various tertiary institutes to be ready to meet that demand.