President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has emphasized the need for a comprehensive approach to tackle the challenges associated with the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
The government’s educational initiative has encountered various difficulties, prompting calls for a review from the opposition National Democratic Congress and other stakeholders.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer, has pledged to improve the free SHS policy if elected in the 2024 elections.
During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on February 27, President Akufo-Addo stated that the success of the Free SHS policy has silenced its critics and urged for practical solutions to enhance it.
“Mr Speaker, I believe the success of the Free SHS has answered its critics, and the arguments about it should cease, and we should simply concentrate on finding ways to improve it. I am particularly glad that the fears about lowering of standards have been allayed. Refreshingly, we witnessed, through the 2023 batch of Free SHS students, the best WASSCE results in a decade.”
He described the Free SHS policy as a “game-changing initiative” that has dispelled misconceptions and empowered young minds.
“Mr Speaker, Free SHS might be labelled by its detractors as a mere political slogan that must be demonised, but it is, in fact, a transformative programme that has broken myths and liberated minds. It is humbling on the one hand and frightening on the other, to think of the sheer number of talents that Free SHS has unearthed that would otherwise have ended their formal education at BECE.”
“I know we will get more engineers, doctors, architects, scientists, writers and poets out of the increased numbers of those attending Senior High School, who will go on to further education. Even if they stop at Senior High School, imagine what a million more Secondary School educated young people will do to our self-confidence and the value of our workforce. That, alone, makes Free SHS worthwhile.”
