Free SHS is Unintelligent and Bad Policy- Educationist
Prof Akilagpa Sawyerr, an educationist has classified the flagship Free Senior High School policy of the Akufo-Addo-led government as unintelligent and bad.
He concedes that making education free is a commendable initiative; however, he posits that implementing it blankly as it stands without recourse to and at the cost of other sectors of the economy makes it unfit.
“The notion of Free education is a laudable one but the pursuit of that objective without question, without working off the lines of movement, without working out the impact of other policies of economy, for me, it’s a failure of policy not the objective,” he said in an interview on JoyNews.
The former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana would rather that the government bestow the privilege to persons from poorer backgrounds who can’t afford it.
“The notion that my children under this system could go to a boarding school and get free food and free everything when there are the younger students under trees, how does that make sense? I can afford to pay for my children’s boarding, so why do you give me that concession when that budget could be used to support pupils who don’t have the basic desks to sit on? That can affect who goes for SHS education yes fees because some can’t afford it without help so give them help.”
“Do testing {to know} who can afford to pay and who can’t. It’s a big work but we can do it to know those who genuinely can and cannot afford it and let those who can afford pay. A blanket free education or everybody for me is bad policy and unintelligent,” he added.
The Free SHS policy by the government is one of the popular policies of the government introduced in 2017. The government boasts that the policy has increased high school enrolment to an all-time high.
However, some commentators have disagreed with the government’s strategy, especially with the financial burden it puts on the budget, calling for a review.
