Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo has defended the government’s decision to maintain the Free SHS policy for students regardless of income level.
Amid calls for a more targeted implementation, Akufo-Addo said parents who could afford it should send their children to fee-paid private schools.
He stressed that public schools are funded by taxpayers and should, therefore, be free for all Ghanaians.
“That is why the number of pupils who have access to secondary education has doubled since the introduction of the free senior high school policy.”
Akufo-Addo’s comments came during a recent address to the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) conference.
The President of the GBA, Yaw Acheampong Boafo, had urged the government to review the Free SHS policy, suggesting the intervention be targeted.
The government plans to present the Free Senior High School Bill to Parliament, binding future governments to the policy.
The Free SHS journey
Per Wikipedia, the Akufo-Addo administration started the programme in 2017 after making it one of his campaign promises.
The policy has been plagued by growing pains and concerns with the quality of education despite increased enrolment.
Parents are also still incurring significant costs to send their wards to school despite the promise of free education.
Africa Education Watch revealed that expenses by parents outweighed costs incurred by the government under Free SHS.
The education think tank found the government spends GH¢2,385 on the wards while the parents were spending GH¢4,000.
The challenges with the Free SHS policy have led to calls for more consultation and immediate reviews of the policy.
