PURSUE THIS POLICY, MR PRESIDENT

THE announcement by President J. A. Kufuor that the Free, Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme will soon be extended to the senior high school has been received with mixed feelings.
A section of the public showed cynicism towards the decision of the government, while others have adopted the attitude of wait-and-see.
Whatever the public attitude towards the policy, it must be seen as an ambitious and far-sighted initiative, which can overhaul the country’s manpower empowerment programme through increased access to formal education.
The President based the feasibility of the initiative on the oil find and the sound management of the economy.
The Daily Graphic believes that with the prudent utilisation of the country’s resources, equal opportunities can be provided for all Ghanaians, particularly children of school going age, even without the oil find.
The country is endowed with rich resources and with more resourcefulness on the part of our leaders at the corporate, national and local levels, more opportunities will be provided for those who want to uplift their situations beyond the ordinary to the realms of development.
It is regrettable that some Ghanaians have become pessimists refusing to challenge the status quo in order to break the back of the obstacles that stand in the way of our progress and prosperity.
Therefore, to some of our contemporaries, President Kufuor’s dream of improving universal education beyond the basic level must be a pipe dream.
The reminiscences of the challenges of the First Republic should keep us on our guard, so that we do not repeat the mistakes of that era when the government was condemned for conceiving prestigious and ambitious projects to the detriment of the basic needs of ordinary people.
Today, we acknowledge the wisdom in many of the projects that the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah introduced and snap our fingers that “had we known . . . but it is always at last”.
Through negative propaganda, the country missed the opportunity to do a lot of things to facilitate its development to become a middle-income country by 1970.
Thus, instead of rubbishing this bold and ambitious plan by the Kufuor administration, the Daily Graphic calls on all Ghanaians, particularly the various interest groups, to support the initiative and offer the pieces of advice that will make it a reality.
Many of the intellectuals of today are the beneficiaries of Nkrumah’s free education policy. Perhaps, the future leaders of today will be beneficiaries of the NPP administration’s free education policy, including the envisaged free education at the senior high school.
The Daily Graphic encourages the President to push forward the rest of his pragmatic policies, even in the last days of his eight-year reign, so that he can leave his footprints in the sands of history.
We, however, advise the President to take any criticisms in good faith. We sincerely believe that many of those who criticise the President’s policies mean well. For it is said that the one who beats the path does not see where he or she has gone crooked.
The Daily Graphic thinks free education at the senior high school is progressive. The government must pursue it until it has laid the solid foundation for its implementation, even as it prepares its handover notes.