Free SHS: Students from rich backgrounds must pay – GBA President

The President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Yaw Acheampong Boafo, has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his administration to reconsider the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy by allowing students from affluent families to pay fees, thereby freeing up resources for students from less privileged backgrounds.

Addressing the 2024/2025 Annual General Conference of the Ghana Bar Association in Kumasi on Monday, September 9, Mr Boafo acknowledged the significant role the Free SHS policy has played in enhancing educational access in Ghana.

However, he emphasised the need for financial equity within the system.

He urged the government to focus on improving basic education and prioritize support for underprivileged students, rather than subsidizing secondary education for those who can afford to pay.

“The Free SHS programme must be means-tested using the data compiled by the National Identification Authority so that rich parents do not suddenly transform to become peasant farmers, as in the days of old when we had the COCOBOD scholarship.

“Students from comfortable backgrounds who attended expensive basic schools must pay fees at the senior high school level so that resources are free to fully cater for the poor. Mr. President, we must invest more in ‘syto’  (public schools) education, eliminate schools under trees, and provide sanitary pads for poor young girls first before spending so much on secondary education.

“As one comes before two, so basic education comes before secondary education. There is also this recent revelation about the school feeding programme from the Auditor General, which should serve as a source of concern for us and call for review and improvements in the operations of the programme, the main beneficiaries of which are people from poor backgrounds.”