The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) lecturer and development economist Dr. Frank Bannor has expressed concern about the significant financial outlay that Ghana’s Free Senior High School (SHS) policy has required since its inception.
He emphasized the magnitude of the government’s commitment, stating that since 2016, the program has received over 10 billion cedis. He underlined the significance of protecting the policy to guarantee ongoing benefits for future generations in spite of the financial burden.
“What makes this even more significant is the sheer volume of resources that have gone into sustaining Free SHS. The government has committed more than 10 billion cedis, a staggering amount that highlights both the importance and the financial strain of the policy.
“What makes it even scary is that, between 2016 and now, the government of Ghana has spent a little over 10 billion cedis on Free SHS,”Dr. Frank Bannor told Asaasepa FM.
He also considered how the National Democratic Congress (NDC) opposed the Free SHS policy. He pointed out that the NDC commissioned about 47 ads during the 2012 election campaign to undermine then-candidate Nana Akufo-Addo’s promise of Free SHS, which many party members believed to be an impractical dream.
He noted that the policy was famously criticized by then-President John Mahama in the run-up to the 2016 elections. Mahama warned of possible failures similar to those encountered in other African nations that have tried free education, saying, “Ghana must not implement Free SHS on the whimsical promises of a desperate politician.”
Also, Dr. Bannor cited Mahama’s 2012 speech in Okere, in which the former president asserted that “Free SHS will collapse the Ghanaian education system.” In a 2016 speech at the University of Cape Coast, Mahama again criticized the program as a “political gimmick’”.
