President-elect John Dramani Mahama has assured Ghanaians of his commitment to sustaining the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy, refuting claims that his administration intends to abolish it.
In an interview with Voice of America (VOA), Mahama dismissed these allegations as “political propaganda” propagated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the campaign period.
The Free SHS initiative, introduced in 2017 under the Akufo-Addo government, provides free tuition, meals, and boarding for students in public senior high schools. While the policy has expanded access to secondary education for thousands of underprivileged youth, its implementation has faced issues such as overcrowding, insufficient infrastructure, and funding delays.
John Dramani Mahama Remarks on the Free SHS Policy
Free SHS has come to stay, and it is not going anywhere, Nobody is going to scrap Free SHS. What was said was political talk and gimmickry. We are going to maintain it, What we are going to do is get dedicated funding for it, so that it is better resourced than it is currently.
We are going to hold a national education forum that will be bring all the stakeholders together to look at all the education sector. Free SHS has come to stay. he remarked.
Mahama has emphasized his administration’s plan to preserve the programme’s benefits while addressing these shortcomings. He aims to establish a sustainable funding framework to ensure financial stability and improve the quality of education delivered under the scheme.
The President-elect reiterated his dedication to equitable education reforms, noting that fixing the challenges of Free SHS would be pivotal in delivering a robust and inclusive educational system for Ghana’s youth.
