The Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy has officially been expanded to include 60 private schools for the 2025 school placement.

This move is expected to increase the options available to BECE graduates and redistribute students, helping to reduce enrolment challenges in public secondary schools. It also creates opportunities for private SHSs to grow and become sustainable ventures in the education sector. The extension of the policy to these private schools is also expected to help ease the current congestion resulting from the Free SHS programme.

While many 2025 BECE graduates may not have chosen these schools during the initial selection phase, the pedigree, environment, and facilities of the 60 private schools will likely influence the choices of many students who are not placed in any of their five selected schools when the Ministry of Education (MoE) releases the 2025 school placements.

60 Private Schools in Free SHS And The 2025 BECE Self-Placement

The private SHSs will likely benefit more from the self-placement when the school placements are out since most of these schools were not captured in the first list of 25 schools announced by the government.

This is possible because students will be more willing to choose a private SHS when using the self-placement module on the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) portal.

The leadership of the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has welcomed the decision by the John Mahama-led government to co-opt private senior high schools into the Free SHS policy. It has indicated that the move is a step in the right direction that will help broaden access to quality education at the senior high school level.

Facilities in Public SHS vs Private SHSs in Free SHS policy

Most of the 60 private schools added to the Free SHS program have facilities that are either comparable to Category A or B schools. In some instances, their facilities are far better than those in most Category B and C public schools.

These facilities and the performance of the schools at the WASSCE will play key roles in convincing parents and candidates to opt for them under the self-placement module.

All parents and guardians are advised to update their knowledge about the schools on the list with data and information from Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service (GES), or GNACOPS platforms. This will help them make informed choices when the time comes.

In a related development, WAEC is expected to release the 2025 BECE results on or before August 17, 2025, while the Ministry of Education is expected to make the school placements public by mid-September 2025.