A stakeholders’ forum on Free Senior High School (SHS) policy has been held in Koforidua, the Eastern regional capital, to assess the progress made on the government’s flagship programme.
The event which was organized by Volunteer Partnerships for West Africa(VPWA) brought together heads of selected Senior High Schools in the Akuapim North District and New Juaben Municipality, Eastern regional director of GES, district GES directors of the two selected districts, representatives from Free SHS secretariat, representatives from Ghana Scholarship secretariat, civil society groups and others.
The stakeholders shared views concerning how to improve the effectiveness of the Free SHS programme. The ‘Make Free SHS Work for All’ project is being implemented by VPWA and supported by Open Society for West Africa (OSIWA).
The general objective of the project is to help ensure a fair and equal access to Free SHS education for boys, girls, and the vulnerable children in the society through increased effectiveness and efficiency in the implementation of the Free SHS programme.
The project will generate reliable, accurate, efficient and valid data which will guide advocacy on the implementation of the Free SHS policy.
In an open address, the project officer for the project, Madam Eva Thompson, said government’s commitment to education has been shown by implementing the Free SHS programme across the country. She said, ”Our task is to support and make it free for all indeed, hence our theme – Making Free SHS Work for All”.
She added, “Our role is to do all that is possible to ensure that the Free SHS programme outlives its founding fathers and that our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will all benefit from this laudable initiative. Every child – able or disabled, poor or rich – should all benefit from the Free SHS”.
Over the last few decades, the government had implemented a plethora of interventions aimed at equitable access and participation in secondary education. These include free secondary for students from the north, free secondary education for students of northern extraction, cocoa board scholarship /bursaries and many others.
These interventions have all come with results. Success has often been linked to successful implementation of the project, the impact it has had on the people and their communities.
Some participants who were present at the forum suggested the need for the government to decentralize the Free SHS secretariat. They said the problems which emanated after the policy was introduced can be addressed by decentralising the secretariat tasked to manage the policy. There was consensus on the need for offices to be established at the regional and district levels. The participants, however, expressed delight about the fact that the policy has helped increase enrollment in all public schools across the country.