A Communicator for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), known as Ohemaa Benz has asked parents whose children are in senior high school to stop pressuring President John Mahama over the Free Senior High School policy, as it is not the President's priority.

According to the female communicator, President Mahama prioritizes his much-touted 24-hour economy over the Free SHS policy. Therefore, he will focus on implementing the 24-hour economy successfully rather than emphasizing Free SHS.

In a viral video shared on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Ohemaa Benz stated that parents who cannot afford to pay for their children's secondary education should simply allow their children to stay home.

"If you think you don’t have money to send your child to senior high school, let him or her stay home. During Akufo-Addo's regime, if you had four children, you could send all of them to school at the same time. But before Akufo-Addo came to power, parents were sacrificing to gather money to send their wards to senior high school one at a time. That is how it was done before Nana Akufo-Addo introduced Free SHS. So, it’s not surprising that we are reverting to the old way of doing things."

She added: "So, if you are a parent with more than one child completing basic school, you should let one of them go to school first and complete before sending the next one. Don’t put any pressure on Mahama. He has not stated that he will prioritize Free SHS over his own 24-hour economy policy. Nobody should stress Mahama."

In the lead up to the December 7, 2024 general elections, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), reaffirmed the party’s commitment to review the Free Senior High Policy despite an attempt by political opponents to discredit the “party’s good intentions.”

Asiedu Nketiah said nothing would stop the next NDC Government from addressing the numerous challenges confronting the implementation of the policy to improve learning outcomes.

He was responding to an alleged viral doctored video in which he was seen announcing the NDC's intention to cancel the policy when it assumed power at Agogo in the Asante-Akim North Constituency.

Asiedu Nketiah said such deliberate and calculated attempts by elements of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to score cheap political points would not change the party’s commitment to review the policy and make it better.

The poor implementation of the policy was affecting quality education and must not be allowed to continue, he stated.

Stop bothering Mahama with Free SHS, if you can’t pay your wards’ fees, let them stay at home. Free SHS is not his priority. His priority is a 24-hour economy.

- NDC Communicator tells Parents pic.twitter.com/897lAm2jDN

— The New TESCON Informant (@tesconinformant) January 10, 2025