Govt to review Free SHS amid $3 billion IMF deal – Prof John Gatsi
After the International Monetary Fund said the Free Senior High School programme is poorly targeted, the Dean of Business School of the University of Cape Coast, Professor John Gatsi, says the criticism will force the government to review the policy.
In a discussion monitored by AcademicWeek, Prof Gatsi said amid conditionalities of the $3 billion grant to the country, the flagship Free SHS programme introduced in 2017 would be reviewed and made more targeted.
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“Indeed, they have been told what to do about the free SHS, to review it and to make it meet the needs of the people, that will be done, definitely, there will be a review of the programme to make it more efficient and more accessible to all the people of Ghana,” he said.
John Gatsi’s prediction comes after the IMF In a report released ahead of the approval of the country’s $3 billion bailout said “The flagship Free Senior High School, which covers the full cost of secondary education, has helped increase enrolment but is poorly targeted.”
Despite spending almost 4 per cent of Gross domestic product (GDP) on education with good results in terms of student enrolment, the United States-based financial agency said the country’s learning outcomes are poor.
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) comment on the Free SHS programme follows its executive board’s approval of a long-awaited $3 billion bailout for Ghana in hopes of battling the country’s worsening economic crisis.
The approval will allow for an immediate release of $600 million, with the remaining funds to be made available over the course of the next three years, the International Monetary Fund said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Free Senior High School (Free SHS) education policy is a government initiative introduced in 2017 September by President Nana Akufo-Addo to enable qualified BECE students to continue their secondary education at no cost.
The policy’s core themes of access, equity and equality fulfil the United Nations modified Sustainable Development Goals, where member countries amalgamate those themes in their educational systems to certify adequate learning experiences for students.