Children in Bole in the Bole-Bamboi constituency of the Northern Region on Saturday came out in their numbers to clearly demonstrate their desire for free secondary education as they joined hundreds of adults to welcome NPP Vice-Presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia who was in the town as part of his tour of the constituency. Taking part in an hour long procession from the outskirts of Bole to the Bolewura’s palace and finally to the grounds of a mini-rally addressed by Dr. Bawumia, the children run along the convoy of the NPP running mate amidst chants of “Free Education, Free Education”. The children of Bole were not the only ones demonstrating their desire for free SHS; many youth of the town also used the opportunity of the visit of the NPP Vice-Presidential candidate to show their support for the NPP’s pledge to make education free from kindergarten to the secondary level as they dressed themselves fully in school uniforms while carrying mattresses and boxes to signal the fact that they are fully ready to enrol into the various second cycle institutions as soon as money is removed as a barrier to education. Speaking at the mini-rally organized to climax the visit of the NPP Running Mate, Dr. Bawumia stated that he was a proud beneficiary of free and quality education as was enjoyed by Northerners and said that it was for this reason that he was fully committed to the making education free up to the secondary level as it was not only workable but necessary for the future of the nation. “It should not be surprising that the NDC is going round saying that free secondary education is not possible. That is the same way they behaved when the NPP promised to introduce a National Health Insurance Scheme, they went to the extent of even walking out of parliament. But not only did the NPP introduce the NHIS, we also introduced various other social interventions like the capitation grant, school feeding programme, metro mass transit, livelihood empowerment against poverty (leap), free maternal care etc. that was even when we were a HIPC economy. So that is the character of the NDC, left to them, everything is impossible. But I stand here to tell you that free SHS would become a reality effective 2013 if you give us the mandate. I am a proud beneficiary of free education and that is why I am resolved to aid Nana Akufo-Addo to make free quality secondary education a reality once you give us the mandate”, he said. Dr. Bawumia asked the people of Bole if the NDC had done anything significant to improve their lives and if they had been witnesses of the so-called Better Ghana agenda to which the people of Bole responded in an emphatic ‘No’. Dr. Bawumia noted that the NPP was a party of solutions and bemoaned the fact that though the people of Bole had voted the NDC since 1992, the NDC had failed to find solutions to the numerous problems of the people of Bole such as potable water, radio and television coverage, bad roads and problems with healthcare. He reminded the people that it was the erstwhile NPP administration that tackled some of the basic problems of the people of Bole such as their roads and asked the people to endorse the NPP for true development. “Some say because they come from Bole, they should be voted for but if you have a child who refuses to bring you development and there is another child who brings development, which would you prefer? It is time to vote for the child that is concerned about you and brings development,” he added.