Some traders from Agona Swedru in Ghana’s Central Region have voiced their frustrations over the government’s Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, claiming it has not delivered the expected benefits for students and their families.
Introduced in 2017 by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, the Free SHS policy was designed to cover the educational costs of second-cycle institutions, ensuring that students could attend school without fees. The government has hailed it as one of its most impactful initiatives.
However, traders in Agona Swedru argue that despite the policy’s promise, they are still forced to bear additional costs to ensure their children receive a quality education. They cite expenses such as extra classes, materials, and remedial courses for students who fail their exams.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Community Forum on Thursday, October 24, trader Mary Gasu expressed her disappointment, calling for the cancellation of the policy.
She lamented that many students are underperforming, leaving parents to shoulder the financial burden of arranging supplementary education.
“It is very painful when your ward goes to school, completes and becomes unemployed after that. Not every child is academically inclined. Such a person should have gone to learn a trade or skill. But the government has pushed all of them into school in the name of free SHS.
“Now, people with skills are not getting people to teach them. Your ward will go to the senior high school, complete and then fail. You, as a parent, have to work extra to pay for additional lessons or remedial. You will get some children who have written the remedial exams more than three times. So we are not seeing the benefit of free SHS, the government should cancel it. We want to go back to paying school fees,” she stated.
Another trader, Patricia Koomson, criticised the double-track system under the Free SHS policy, which alternates between students spending time at school and long periods at home.
“What I don’t like about the free SHS policy is the double-track system. Your child will go to school and come back home and for three months, they are in the house.”
“Even while in school they are not getting what they are being taught in school. How much more when they come to stay at home for three months? It is not helping us as parents.
“You meet a student and ask them what they have learnt. They tell you that they have forgotten. But when you travel to the advanced world, the students are doing well. But for us here, when your child comes home and you ask them what they were taught, they are confident to tell you that they have forgotten,” she stated.
#GhanaPolls2024
#Election2024
#ElectionBureau
#CitiVerify
