Review finds Ghana Free SHS creates inequities and sustainability risks
Ghana's Free Senior High School policy expanded secondary access without tuition, but a new 2026 independent review reports multiple implementation failures that threaten outcomes and sustainability. The review finds that hidden costs like prospectus fees, delayed uniforms and textbooks, and a double-track timetable push families toward extra paid classes. Resource bias leaves category C/D schools short of desks, dormitory beds and food while category A/B schools receive timelier supplies. The policy is linked to increased indiscipline, low staff morale, weak governance, political vulnerability, and unaddressed transport and boarding gaps for deprived day students, all of which risk long-term viability.
Free SHS faces funding, equity, and implementation failures.
Context
Free SHS expanded access by removing tuition for many families. The 2026 review collected firsthand accounts from school staff and students. The report suggests funding and political risks that could lead to policy changes or corrections.
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