An amount of Le 19.9 billion is allocated as 10 percent advance payment to procure text books for the five core subjects to improve the text book to pupil ratio from 3:1 to 1:1. Government announced that the outstanding examination fees for NPSE, BECE and WASSCE for all the just-concluded examinations estimated at Le 26.5 billion would now be paid to the West African Examination Council (WAEC).
Government announced the elimination of SS4 with effect from the 2018/19 academic year as promised in the New Direction. Government will pay an additional one-month salary in the month of August to all teachers teaching SS3 pupils to provide additional classes over the summer holidays to pupils promoting to SS3 to catch up with those already in SS3 that were to proceed to SS4.
Government announced grant dispensation for the payment of outstanding bills owed to suppliers providing diets to all Government Boarding Schools to enable them provide regular diet supplies to pupils over the holidays up to the end of the first term. Institutional support for the free education programme is allocated Le6.0 billion. Government announced the provision of School Buses for which an amount of Le12.0 billion has been provided as advance payment for the procurement of fifty (50) school buses to be managed by the City Councils on a cost recovery basis. The objective is to reduce the cost of transportation for school children while ensuring that they are regular and punctual in schools.
Government announced the introduction of a conditional cash transfer programme for the education sector to encourage very poor parents to allow their children to go to school instead of sending them out to engage in street trading and hawking.
President Bio announced the elimination of the payment for application forms for admission to the universities and an allocation of Le5.6 billion is provided in this budget to cover the cost of university application forms for the 2018/19 academic year.
Government announced the commencement of a National Student Loan Scheme in the second half of the 2018/2019 Academic Year and has allocated the sum of Le2.0 billion to support start-up institutional arrangements and operations.
Other interventions include Government’s announcement to provide Le2.4 billion in the domestic capital budget to support adult functional education in all 14 provincial and Western Area districts, among several other interventions for the free education policy initiated by the SLPP Government to succeed.
