Free SHS not under review; GHC5bn spent on programme in 2021 – Finance Minister
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has clarified that government has no such intentions to review the free SHS policy.
He said this while delivering the Mid-Year Review of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government for the 2022 financial year on Monday, July 25, 2022, in Parliament.
According to Mr. Ofori-Atta, government is aware of the challenges facing the free SHS in its current state and is fixing them.
“It has been at the core of our national transformation efforts since 2017. We have invested GH¢5.3 billion to enable 1,261,495 Ghanaian children access to secondary education under the Free SHS programme at the end of 2021 to improve access to education. Out of the 571,892 registered JHS candidates, 555,353, representing 97.1 percent, were placed into SHS this year.”
He also revealed that the government spent GHS5.3 billion on Free SHS in 2021.
This amount he noted enabled some 1.2 million children to have access to secondary education.
“We have invested GH¢5.3 billion to enable 1,261,495 Ghanaian children access to secondary education under the Free SHS programme at the end 2021 to improve access to education. Out of the 571,892 registered JHS candidates, 555,353, representing 97.1 percent, were placed into SHS this year,” Mr Ofori-Atta told parliament.
Mr. Ofori-Atta said President Akufo-Addo-led government has placed human capital development at the core of its national transformation efforts since 2017.
The government has completed 17 additional projects including classroom blocks, dormitories, staff bungalows, and libraries as part of the infrastructural expansion in Senior High Schools without mentioning the beneficiary schools.
He dispelled reports that free SHS was under review saying “Mr Speaker, we shall not compromise on President Akufo-Addo’s commitment to giving all our children the opportunity to be educated from kindergarten to university, without the ability to pay being a hindrance. Free Secondary and TVET education are not under review. We will continue to fund them and we will continue to improve them.”
