Gov’t Covered only 23% of the Parents’ Expenses for Free SHS

Africa Education Watch (EduWatch), a think tank focused on education, has shown that after the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy was implemented in 2017, the government only reimbursed parents for 23% of the total expenses they had previously incurred under the fee-paying system.

According to the data, low-income kids may not be able to pay the remaining 77% of their high school tuition, according to EduWatch.

Speaking about recent findings, Kofi Asare, Executive Director of EduWatch, emphasised that the government has placed a high priority on equity.

“You will realise that the government absolved 23 percent of the expenses of secondary education originally borne by parents during the fee-paying era if you compare the year before the introduction of the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme to the year in which free senior high school was introduced moving forward,” Kofi Asare said to Alfred Ocansey on Ghana Tonight on Monday, February 26.

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He claims that by “taking only 23 percent of the expenses that was originally borne by parents,” the government is assisting parents in sharing the expenses of secondary education through the Free SHS programme.

The outcome demonstrates that parents are still paying the remaining 77% of the program’s costs for their wards.

Additionally, Kofi Asare stated that more than 194,000 applicants who were assigned to senior high schools around the nation between 2019 and 2022 were initially denied admission. After being enrolled in the schools, this percentage of students did not honour their admission in the first year.

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“We acknowledge that the number decreased to roughly 7,000 in 2023,” he said, stressing that a large number of students being unable to enrol would indicate that the government’s 23% waiver is insufficient to remove the financial burden on low-income households.

In light of this, EduWatch has recommended that the government concentrate its efforts on homes headed by low-income parents.

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According to him, it will be difficult for kids from families with yearly incomes under 8,000.00 Ghana cedis to pay the remaining 77% of secondary school expenses.

He claims that this will enable the government to consciously raise the amount it allots to kids from low-income families.

MORE STORIES: 5.7m students have so far benefited from free SHS policy – Eduwatch

On Monday, February 26, during Ghana Tonight’s “Manifesto Check” section, the Free Senior High School policy was examined and Government covered only 23% of the parents’ expenses for free SHS.