A reassessment of the government's free SHS policy, according to Minister of Education Dr. Yaw Adutwum, would contradict the goal for why the programme was put into place.
The Minister made this comment in response to people who demanded a reassessment of the Free SHS due to the food deficit in the nation's secondary schools.
As the food scarcity scenario worsened, certain senior high schools across the nation were in danger of closing.
After the Upper West Regional Chapter of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) imposed a 7-day deadline for the delivery to be met, the Education Ministry had said that food supplies will reach the schools last Tuesday.
A revision of the government's Free SHS policy has been demanded by several stakeholders in addition to the food deficit in Ghana's numerous schools.
The Minister for Education urged those advocating for the review to take into account the goal of the policy in a statement to Atinka TV during the New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates' meeting on Saturday, July 16, 2022 at the Accra Sports Stadium.
"Ask those who are willing to pay if they will permit their kids to attend any school than the A-class schools. People often claim that only those who can afford it should pay for the programme. However, the affluent pay more taxes, so it would not be just to expect them to foot the bill, he said.
Prof. Stephen Adei, an educator and the head of the National Development Planning Commission, is one of the people who called.
He has argued that despite the Senior High School policy's many benefits, the government's need to spend about GH7.5 billion on it annually strains the country's already fragile economy.
He asserts that the government must waive the rules for a few of the supposedly top senior high schools in the nation.
"We need to take another look at it. I believe that certain schools should be autonomous and fee-paying so that people would attend them, but that there should also be excellent community schools available for everyone else.