Eastern Regional vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Fredua Ofori Atta says students would be better off studying under tree for frees than to wait for classrooms yet to be constructed  before they can access education for free.

He says government's plan to introduce the policy in the next academic year will rather burden parents.  

He made the comment on Tuesday, a day after president John Mahama cut the sod to begin the construction of 50 community day senior high schools this year ahead of introduction of free education at senior high school (SHS) level next year. It forms part of the president's 2012 election promise to construct 200 SHSs across the country.

Nana Fredua noted on Badwam on Adom TV that, the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) vehemently opposed the NPP's election 2012 campaign mantra of making education free at SHS level. The NDC had argued that infrastructure needed to be put in place first before the implementation of the free SHS policy. According to the NDC, free SHS was feasible after 20 years.

But president John Mahama in his state of the Nation Address to Parliament last Tuesday announced the development of a road map by the Ministry of Education to make education "progressively free" at the senior high school level. This would be however, when the first 50 SHSs are completed next year. 

Nana Fredua says the sudden u-turn by the Mahama-led administration to implement the free SHS policy in 2015/2016 academic year, saddens him.

"What has changed that the NDC is now singing the free SHS tune? Are those infrastructure ready? Is it 20 years yet for the policy to be feasible? He quizzed.