Education

How Free SHS Beneficiaries Data Got Bloated

The former spokesperson of the Education Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng, under the erstwhile, Akufo-Addo administration has clarified the 5.7 million figure earlier put out by his government as beneficiaries of the Free Senior High School (SHS).

It comes after concerns were raised about the figures by Haruna Iddrisu, the new Minister for Education, upon assumption of role at the Ministry.

“From my cross-check only 3.05 million were beneficiaries of free SHS not 5.7 million as claimed by the outgone administration, meaning 2.6 million beneficiary funds were syphoned as ghost names.”

In a statement issued in response to this, Kwasi Kwarteng said the wrong figure emanated from a discrepancy in a financial accounting technique by the Ministry of Finance.

“For financial reporting purposes, the Ministry uses a cumulative budgeting approach instead of relying on the nominal yearly enrollment figures. This approach results in counting each student as a separate beneficiary for every year they remain in school under the programme.”

He indicated that this technique counted each student separately for every year they remained in school.

Kwarteng therefore pegged the accurate total number of beneficiaries at 3,511,733 as of 2024.

“This figure is consistent with official data provided by the Ministry of Education in all its official communications. The Ministry’s funding has been based on the enrollment as stipulated above.”

 

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini

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