The former Finance Minister has dismissed the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government's decision to uncap the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) as lacking any novelty.

According to Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, the government's uncapping of GETFund is merely a shift in the funding approach rather than a groundbreaking policy move.

Speaking on JoyNews PM Express on Monday, March 17, Dr. Amin Adam questioned the significance of the move, stating that the previous New Patriotic Party administration already had a funding mechanism in place for the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.

• Read also: Gov’t uncaps GETFund, increases funding for Free SHS

“When you uncap GETFund to fund Free Senior High School, what is novelty about that," he questioned.

"We were funding Free Senior High School with the goods and services component of the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA). That’s what we were using to fund it,” he stated.

Dr Amin Adam argued that the current government has not introduced anything fundamentally new, as the essence of the funding remains the same.

“If you've come and you're using it for something else and then you uncap GETFund for the same purpose of funding Free Senior High School, what have you done? Unless you are saying that the goods and services component of ABFA we were using for funding high school was inadequate.

“But if it is uncapping the GETFund that will make more money available to you, such that you can still fund Free Senior High School, what new thing have you done? You have merely changed the funding route—if you like, the funding approach—but you haven't done anything,” he added.

Dr. Amin Adam also downplayed claims that the move represents a major policy breakthrough, insisting that a mere change in the funding pattern does not amount to a significant achievement.

“I don’t know what they meant by doing something great because they changed the funding pattern or the approach to funding Free Senior High School. I don't see anything new,” he said.

His comments come in response to Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson’s announcement that the government is uncapping GETFund to ensure sustainable funding for Free SHS.

Dr. Ato Forson explained that the decision aims to address long-standing concerns about the quality and financial sustainability of the Free SHS programme.

According to him, President John Mahama's administration has taken decisive action to secure a dedicated financial source for secondary education and other critical educational initiatives.

Despite this justification, Dr. Amin Adam maintains that the government’s move is not an innovation but rather a simple reallocation of existing financial resources.