All is now set for the second government of president-elect, John Dramani Mahama to abolish the free SHS policy. This follows the overwhelming victory the electorate gave the incoming president and his party the National Democratic Congress (NDC. With a 56 percent margin over Dr. Bawumia’s 41 percent and two-thirds of the 276 members of Parliament, Ghanaians have given John Mahama and NDC unassailable power to do anything they desire over the next four years.
Judging from the party and its flagbearer’s avowed hatred for the free SHS policy, I do not doubt that they will abolish it as promised. I am baffled as to why a political party that describes itself as social democratic has such entrenched hatred for a policy that was designed to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in access to basic education.
In 2012, 2016 and 2020, NDC spent significant time and money to campaign against free SHS policy. The party sponsored more than 30 advertisements on radio, television and newspapers against this inclusive policy. Fiifi Kwetey, one of the most vibrant communicators of the NDC and now its General Secretary once described free SHS as “all lie be lie” and “419.”
In 2023, the incoming president, John Mahama, was on record as saying that the impressive pass rate of the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), resulted from a collusion between the government and the West Africa Examination Council. That statement from an ex-president demonstrated the level of abhorrence he and his party harbour against free SHS. Moreover, Mr. Mahama is on record as saying that if he had two billion cedis, he would not use all of it for free SHS. Now he has the opportunity to keep or cancel free SHS.
Reverse gear
When it became clear that free SHS could be a key determinant of the election, John Mahama put on a brave face and claimed that he indeed introduced it. Perhaps, compelled by circumstances, the incoming president wryly promised that he would not cancel free SHS as promised. Within days of John Mahama putting on reverse gear, his party chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, in an address to chiefs and people in Bono East openly declared that his party would terminate free SHS when voted to power.
These inconsistencies between the president-elect and his party chairman are enough signals for any discerning Ghanaian to conclude that after January 7, 2025 free SHS will be the first casualty of the second John Mahama administration. If free SHS is going, obviously TVET and STEM cannot survive the fury of NDC. This signals the end of the current government’s drive to boost economic development through innovations in education, targeted at human resource development.
Don’t blame NDC
No one can blame the NDC government if they cancel the policy. They campaigned against it in previous elections, and once the electorate gave them an overwhelming victory in 2024, it indicates that Ghanaians do not value the free SHS policy. If they valued it, they would probably have voted for the outgoing government and its candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who promised to maintain and improve the policy.
Ironically most of the parents, whose children benefitted from free SHS, and the beneficiaries themselves probably voted against the current government. A few days after the EC declared the winners, students from one of the secondary schools staged a mock burial of the free SHS policy on social media. The negative attitude of both parents and beneficiaries marked the highest level of ungratefulness people could exhibit towards their benefactors.
The attitude and voting pattern probably compelled the CNN reporter who covered the election to conclude that “It is only in Ghana that poor people are rejecting something free.” I agree with the CNN reporter one hundred percent. This is why I give my full backing to the NDC to cancel the policy, as they promised and was upheld by the electorate. Perhaps, the incoming government can use the money meant for free SHS to buy more V8s to facilitate government business. Simply put, Ghanaians do not need the free SHS, TVET and STEM.
Free SHS philosophy
Prior to the election, the outgoing Minister of Education, Dr. Osei Adu Twum eloquently outlined the philosophy behind the free SHS, TVET and STEM innovations. According to him, Ghana does not need a class society. “We want a Ghana where the child of a labourer will sit in the classroom with the child of a judge, and the two will become friends. One day the son of the judge will invite the son of the labourer to his birthday party. When the son of the labourer enters the house of the judge, he will be motivated to aim higher and achieve what the judge has achieved. This is the Ghana Dr. Bawumia wanted to be given the opportunity to create”, Dr. Adu Twum explained.
In a nutshell, the free SHS policy was designed to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor through equal access to secondary education and beyond. Dr. Adu Twum emphasized that free SHS was not designed to waste money as the opponents of the policy are trumpeting. He admitted that implementing the policy was not rosy and urged Ghanaians to believe in his government, whose philosophy is to bridge the poverty gap among Ghanaian children. “Have hope in us and understand that we can change the cause of this nation.”
He appealed to Ghanaians to vote for the government to protect free SHS and TVET and STEM innovations. Unfortunately, over six million Ghanaians voted against the government to send a strong signal that they do not need free SHS.
NDC’s philosophy
On the contrary, the former Minister of Finance, Mr. Seth Terpker was quoted in social media as arguing that in Western countries secondary education is free because they operate a day school system. Mr. Terkper reportedly said that boarding schools should be reserved for the children of rich people, while children of poor parents should send their children to day schools. Arguably, that is the NDC’s philosophy. They hate mass education for the obvious reason that as more people get educated, they will make wise electoral choices in future. On the contrary, NPP’s philosophy is that boarding SHS, TVET and STEM should be free for all children, irrespective of their social and economic background.
Moreover, the NDC’s day school policy was a monumental failure. In many cases, the schools were built in areas and communities whose secondary school going age population could not fill one class. The idea of asking students to walk for more than ten kilometers in and out to attend school was insensitive and still insensitive. This explains why the chiefs of the host communities pleaded with the outgoing government to add boarding facilities to day schools. Unfortunately, some of the communities that asked for boarding facilities did not see the need to retain the government.
Enrollment statistics
Despite the teething problems that confronted free SHS, Dr Adu Twum disclosed that the policy has bridged the enrollment gap between boys and girls. According to him in 2016 prior to the introduction of the policy, the enrollment ratio was 100 boys to 68 girls. But in 2024, the enrollment gap changed to 106 girls to 100 boys. Thus, over the last eight years, free SHS has solved the problem of parents asking their girls to stay home while the boys go to secondary.
Below is a table of the statistics of enrollment trends since 2017
2016 851,412
2017 946,201
2018 1,085,144
2019 1,197,532
2020 1,248,432
2021 1,308,816
2022 1,320,976
2023 1,412,662
(Source: Ministry of Education)
WASSCE Results
The outgoing minister further revealed that the pass rate of free SHS since 2017 has been improving compared to the years before the policy started. For instance, in 2020 and 2023 more than 60 percent of candidates obtained A1-C6 in all the core subjects. AI-C6 are the grades required for a student to qualify for admission to tertiary education. “This signals that Ghana’s education was heading in the right direction”, says the Minister. According to the outgoing minister a total of 5.7 million children have benefited from free SHS since 2017.
Perhaps, to consolidate access to free quality education, the outgoing government commissioned 80 educational facilities across the country in one day. The facilities include classrooms, dormitories, science labs and TVET workshops among others. Arguably, the commissioning of 80 STEM, SHS and TVET projects in a day could pass as the biggest in project in West Africa, if not Africa. Yet, these projects did not appeal to the conscience of the electorate to retain confidence in the government. Goodbye to free SHS, TVET and STEM.
As I stated in my last article, Ghanaians probably voted against NPP and Dr Bawumia to protest against President Akufo-Addo’s insensitivity to public demands for cabinet reshuffles. Perhaps, with hindsight, the President should have listened to demands by NPP MPs and ordinary people for the exit of Mr. Ken Ofori-Attah. The signals of this electoral humiliation started in 2020, when the party lost its majority in Parliament, while the President’s margin was reduced to 500,000 from almost one million votes in 2017. Currently, with 41 percent in the presidential results and less than 100 MPs, it appears impossible for the party to regain its past glory. However, the reorganization should start right now.
(***The writer is a Development and Communications Management Specialist, and a Social Justice Advocate. All views expressed in this article are my personal views and do not represent those of any organization(s). (Email: safoamos@gmail.com. Mobile: 0202642504/0243327586
