Free SHS: Send your ward to private schools if you can afford it – Akufo-Addo

President Akufo Addo has announced that people who can afford to pay fees for their wards should go to the private schools. President Akufo Addo made this statement in Kumasi during the annual Ghana Bar Association Conference on Monday, September 9. He urged critics who are dissatisfied with the policy’s standards to consider enrolling their children in private schools. He said that Free SHS is completely free for all.

President Akufo-Addo also reaffirmed his government’s commitment to ensuring education remains accessible to those in need.

“People who can afford to pay fees for the education of their ward should send them to fee paying private schools.

“Public schools, schools funded by the taxpayer should be free to all who would otherwise, be unable to pay for their education. That is why the numbers of people who have access to second cycle education has doubled since the introduction of free senior high school policy,” he said.

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The Free Senior High School (SHS) educational policy in Ghana, launched by the government in September 2017, seeks to give secondary education to every Ghanaian citizen without payment. It encompasses payment of fees, toiletries, and feeding, etc. It reduces the economic burden on the families of students as they do not have to pay extra charges because the costs are provided for. And also, it is in line with the government’s goal of improving literacy in the country, reducing the burden of children education on the economics, and increasing the education base for development and growth.

However, even if its intentions are benevolent, the Free SHS policy has not been implemented without challenges. One of the major problems has been the high student enrollment which has resulted in congestion in schools and lack of facilities such as classrooms and dormitories. There are also many other challenges related to human resources because at some point even the staff employed became inadequate because of the increased students. There are also other problems including and not limited to the quality of education since there is a rush to teach and accommodate pupils. Because of poor management there are the problems of shortage of funds to the schools and late disbursements to the schools. There have been deliberations as to what degree the number of students can be increased without compromising on the standards of education.