Bright Simons: IMANI Fellow Predicts Free SHS Policy Will Soon Destroy All Public Secondary Schools

• A fellow of IMANI, Bright Simons, has said the free SHS policy would soon destroy Ghana's public secondary school system
• The social innovator and scientist likened the controversial education policy to the NHS in the UK which is untouchable because it is steeped in politics
• He joins a tall list of experts who have asked the government to review aspects of the policy to reduce the huge financial burden on the government

A fellow of think tank IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Bright Simons, has said the future looks bleak for the public secondary schools under the Free SHS policy.

He tweeted on Thursday, July 14, 2022, that because the policy is steeped in politics, no government after Nana Akufo-Addo leaves office would be able to touch it.

Read also

"I'll choose GH Card over 1,000 interchanges" and other 'strange' things Bawumia said during lecture

The social innovator and scientist said the Free Senior High School policy will soon suffer the same fate as the government-run primary schools that are usually seriously deprived, known popularly as "syto."

"Free SHS will end up turning all the public secondary schools in Gh into "syto" like it happened with primary schools. Just as analysts predicted. BUT it has become Ghana's version of the UK's NHS. No one can touch it! Politicians can only compete on who will INVEST MORE into it."

The free SHS policy was started in 2017 as a government policy to enable every child in Ghana who qualifies to enter a public Senior High School for secondary education to do so totally free.

The cost of tuition, books, and feeding would be absorbed entirely by the government. The policy has been criticised heavily for being too expensive for the country.

Read also

IMF team concludes bail out trip to Ghana, vows to monitor economic situation

Professor Aryeetey gives 5 reasons quality ff Ghana's public school system is declining

YEN.com.gh reported in a related story that a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof Ernest Aryeetey, has given five reasons for the decline in the quality of Ghana's public school system, especially the free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy.

Releasing research findings by the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), for which he is the General Secretary, Prof Aryeetey revealed that the poor performance of Ghana's public school system is generally attributed to the following:

1. Inadequate investment in schools reflected by poor infrastructure, facilities and equipment;

2. Inadequate teacher preparation, often attributed to poor motivation and low morale;

3. Inadequate time spent in school;

4. Schools focus on getting students to pass examinations mainly, so there is no broad education and critical thinking;

5. System of governance of public schools does not provide much incentive for schools to want to excel.

Source: YEN.com.gh