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The 2024 flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has touted the achievements of the free Senior High School (SHS) which was introduced by the Akufo-Addo administration in the 2017/2018 academic year.
Addressing a stakeholders engagement in Ledzorkuku constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Dr Bawumia said the policy despite facing initial challenges has succeeded in bridging the academic gab between the rich and poor since its commencement.
“5.7 million students have for the last eight years benefited from the policy; total enrollment which was 800,000 since independence (1957 – 2016) increased to 1.4 million…this shows that the several students who couldn’t attend school because of financial constraints are schooling…”, he said.
Promoting Gender Parity
The Vice President continued that “it has now become very difficult to acquire the services of house maids all because most parents can now afford to school their wards”.
“One significant achievement of the policy is that it has led to gender parity as the ratio of men to women in SHS has increased from 100 boys to 68 girls in 2016 to 100 girls to 106 girls in 2023…,” he said.
Dr Bawumia further denied claims that the free SHS policy has led to a decrease in quality of education in Ghana.
“The pass rate in the core six subjects during the 2016 WASSCE exams was 45%…in 2023, the pass rate [in the six core subjects] was 64% and this is a major increase in performance. What is interesting is that the top three students in WAEC examinations in West Africa are all from Ghana…this shows that our standards have gone up. Imagine what would have happened if the free SHS policy was not introduced…,” he said.
The successes of the free SHS policy, he added, is further boosted by the government’s decision to ‘distribute laptops to all SHS students which will make Ghana the first country in Africa to do this’.
Free TVET
The addition of free Technical and Vocational Education (TVET), he continued is another feather in the cup of the NPP which believes that technical and vocational education ought to be encouraged to make Ghana better in the future.
“We have invested [in education] more than any other government in the history of Ghana, we have spent 6 billion cedis in technical and vocational education to acquire major equipment [for] 10 digital colleges, 34 vocational institutes…,” he said.
He therefore called on the Ghanaians to choose to protect a life-changing policy in December 2024 over ‘nkoko nkete’ and a ’24-hour disco’ adding that the former President lacks the know how to protect a good policy like the free SHS.
