An assessment of free SHS policy in Ghana

Introduction

The strength of democracy is reflected in the “expressions of mass demands for better social safety nets, especially in the sectors of health and education services. However, for mass demands to be translated into policy, there needs to be an opportunity that numbers can mobilize, and that mobilization counts politically.

The strength and quality of democracy make it possible for civil society, popular organizations, and political parties to emerge and consolidate as organizations that can serve to mobilize voters and put demands for networks of social protection on the agenda.

However, this is achievable if all citizens have equal opportunities and access to education to build those capacities. This view aligns with the World Bank’s statement that ‘sustained poverty reduction requires a commitment to reduce inequality and improve access to opportunities for all citizens (World Bank, 2015).

Formulation

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, launched the Free Senior High School policy, describing the programme as the means to creating a society of opportunities and empowerment for every citizen.

At a ceremony at the West Africa Senior High School, President Akufo-Addo noted that he made the Free SHS pledge “because I know that knowledge and talent are not for the rich and privileged alone and that free education widens the gates of opportunities to every child, especially those whose talents are arrested because of poverty".

Implementation

As stated in Article 25 1b of the 1992 Constitution, “Secondary education in its different forms including technical and vocational education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means, and in particular, by the progressive introduction of free education.”

Goal 4 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) states: “By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.” It has therefore been a priority of the government and the Ministry of Education to ensure that education is made free from basic to secondary to afford more children in Ghana the opportunity to access quality education.

Policy actors

One of the primary factors in all stages of the social policy process is the involvement of all actors (role-players and stakeholders). Implementation of social “policy involves various actors at various levels, each having a particular interest in the programme. The actors may refer to individuals or collective entities, both formal (e.g. Legislature, Executive, Judiciary) and informal (e.g. parents,teachers, students, political coalitions).

Dimensions/ Agencies

Agencies like Ghana Education Service (GES), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Association of Private Senior High School Education Providers (APSHSEP), parent-teacher associations, Coalition of Concerned Teachers Association (CCTA) contributed largely to the implementation of the free SHS policy.

The capacity of these implementing agencies is determined by the quality of their human resource on the one hand and by their organizational setting, on the other.

Funding

According to Cudjoe (2018), the main source of financing for the Free SHS Policy is oil revenue, which is unsustainable.

This is supplemented by the government of Ghana (through taxes, fees, and levies) with these sources providing a total of GHS 1.34 billion in the 2018 education budget towards implementing the policy (Cudjoe, 2018).

The Government spent GH¢212 million from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) in the first year of implementing the program. The program has now been removed from the list of projects funded with the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA). It is now funded by the Scholarship Secretariat.

Weakness

- Agenda setting stage
In terms of the agenda-setting stage, there was no definition of the problem prior to the campaign pledge and the subsequent launch of the policy. The promises and challenges of instituting a Free SHS Policy are wide-ranging and needed broader consultations to determine whether Ghana really had a problem of out of pocket payment for senior high school education.

-Formulation stage
If consultation had been built into the process it would have generated feasible alternatives from which the best solution would have been chosen. That is a pilot scheme to test the viability and sustainability of the policy would have been instituted.

-Implementation Stage
The Free SHS process has a clearly identified implementation stage. Ghana
Education Service (GES) is the implementing and monitoring agency that is overseeing the provision of infrastructure, the deployment of resources including personnel to the provider institutions, and the supervision of performance of the policy.

Conclusion

The development of any educational system and standards will be a mirage if viable efforts and structures are not put in place to ensure continuous improvements and sustainability of the gains that have been made in terms of its quality.

The government of Ghana, under the leadership of the New Patriotic Party, rolled out the free Senior High School Policy, as a social intervention initiative with the overarching aim of improving equity and accessibility to educational services and in the long run enhancing the socio-economic status of the people, and enhancing national development.

The Free Senior High School policy provides an appropriate social intervention strategy that has increased secondary school enrolment significantly since its implementation but there is more room for improving the policy to ensure quality education.

Recommendations
The recommendations for dealing with the implementation challenges of the Free SHS Policy are several.

First, I recommend parents and guardians should be educated on why they need to pay the tuition fees of non-performing students as the state is not ready to pay the fees of such students because wholesale admissions and promotions will spur the growth of enrolments at the Schools and compromise quality education.

Second, in view of the cost challenges facing the implementation of the policy, a targeted rather than a universal approach to free education would have been most appropriate. Third, partnership with the private sector in designing and implementing a fee-free SHS education would have been less fiscally burdensome for government.