Former President John Dramani Mahama has stated that the move by the Akufo-Addo-led government to solicit for funds from the public to support the funding of the free Senior High School policy will not be successful.

Addressing NDC supporters during a Unity Walk held in Tarkwa in the Western region on Saturday, November 25, Mr. Mahama said the NPP failed to properly consult and extensively explore the means to fund the free SHS policy before implementation.

“This voluntary contribution ‘lalasulala’ will not be successful. We need a broader discussion on how to fund the Free SHS. Just the first year of implementation and we are seeing the challenges. By the time it gets to the second and third years then these problems are going to be multiplied by three”.

“Why is government in a hurry to introduce Free SHS while the constitution states that it should be introduced progressively? Progressively means implementation gradually and not all at once or by force.

“However, somebody just came and he says within three years he will implement Free SHS and the outcome is what we are seeing now,” the former president stated.

The former president admonished president Akufo-Addo to hold broader consultations on how to properly and sustainably fund and resolve the challenges that have bedeviled the policy.

“My advice to Nana is that it is not too late to call a national stakeholders conference immediately and solicit for people’s opinion so that we can make Free SHS sustainable because it was not originated by one person but enshrined in the 1992 constitution.”