General News of Saturday, 5 June 2021

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

You’ve lost your credibility because of power – Kennedy Agyapong pokes Opoku-Agyemang over Free SHS claims

Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong

• Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has criticised the government's Free SHS program

Kennedy Agyapong has said that her comments were baseless and unfortunate

• He also accused Professor Opoku-Agyemang of leaving behind huge debt as Education Minister

Kennedy Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central has hit back at former Education Minister, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang over her criticism of the government’s Free Senior High School programme.

Kennedy Agyapong said in a radio interview in the US that, Professor Opoku-Agyemang’s insinuations that the Ghanaian students who excelled in the 2020 West Africa Secondary School Certificate Exam (WASSCE) excelled because invigilators were compromised and questions were leaked to the students has caused the nation some reputational damage.

In a quite vicious attack, Kennedy Agyapong questioned how Professor Opoku-Agyemang earned her academic accolades.

He warned her not to lose her credibility in a bid to impress members of the National Democratic Congress.

“The woman has disgraced Ghana. She has disgraced Ghana because of power. Over 92,000 teachers worked for three years and she gave them three months pay. How did she become a professor? How can a professor of literature question the performance of Ghanaians in the WASSCE?" Agyapong asked.

“She has thrown her credibility away because of power. I went to Assin LA but my mind works. She left huge debt at the ministry. Akufo-Addo’s Free SHS is a leveller for all persons. It shows that if rich people can get an education then poor people too," he added.

Professor Opoku Agyemang in a recent interview with Woezor TV expressed disquiet about aspects of the government’s flagship program.

“We have also heard and seen students who wrote an exam, came out and it was like, you know we had an earthquake in this country, it wasn’t like one school or two schools… this same group's performance is supposed to be outstanding that we shouldn’t be talking, it is the group I am referring to,” she said.

She added, “And they went and wrote the exams we heard of the leakage of the exams, we heard of invigilators being compromised, we heard many things and we also saw the students come out and speak about, ‘no this is not what we were told will happen’, now these students have As and we are happy? It is up to us.”