Your SHS is targeted for free -IMF informs the government
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has described the government's Free SHS Senior High School (SHS) flagship program as well established.
The fund made this observation in its latest country report on Ghana, whose bailout request it recently approved for $3 billion. According to the report, the free SHS program "which fully covers secondary school fees, has helped increase enrollment but is poorly targeted."
The IMF also shows that Ghana spends almost 4% of its GDP on education with good results in terms of education but poor learning outcomes.
Key areas identified by the IMF as requiring potential improvement in education spending include strengthening primary education infrastructure, better teacher training, and a stronger performance-based investment model. Confirmation from JoyNews reveals that the freeSHS program has had a budgetof over GH¢11.3 billion since 2019.
In the 2023 budget, thegovernment showed its commitment by announcingthat the implementation of the free SHS program is still stagnant. He also said that "thenumber of beneficiaries is now1.3 million students for the academic year 2021/22" and this year, "the government will continue with the implementation of the free SHS program and will go to "faces that make access to different kinds of education. elementary." Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo, who addressed a rally organized by the New Patriotic Party ahead of the local elections in Kumawu on May 23, said President Mahama disagreed with his views on the zero SHS policy.
According to him, the NDC flag bearers have changed his argument by canceling the program and expanding it to private graduate schools. Consistency, he said, does not make President Mahama credible.
In July 2022, Finance MinisterKen Ofori-Atta said the review of the free secondary schoolpolicy was still ongoing. Heexplained that the Ministry ofEducation continues to reviewthe policy with the aim of understanding how parents can be involved in a non-coercive way.
“Reformation is always a possibility on the table. That isjust to ensure that propereducation is given and we eliminate waste that gives us value for money,” Mr. Ofori-Atta told George Wiafe of Joy Business in an interview.
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