Editorial: Government’s Decision To Create Dedicated Funding For Free SHS Is Welcome

President John Dramani Mahama has announced that government has created dedicated funding for the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme to prevent delays in releasing funds to schools. He said the arrangement had improved food supplies and reduced complaints from heads of SHSs.

The President also said government was working with the World Bank on a US$300 million facility to end the double-track system by the end of 2027. He said this would allow students to attend school simultaneously and increase teacher-student interaction.

The World Bank has since approved the US$300 million STARR-J project, which will support expanded learning spaces, teaching quality and skills development across public secondary schools.

President Mahama also defended recent examination results, arguing that stronger invigilation and reduced examination malpractice were providing a more accurate picture of students’ academic performance.

On the controversy over Arabic and Chinese languages in basic schools, the President said no Cabinet approval had been given for their wholesale introduction into public schools. He explained that Arabic teacher training was intended to support existing English-Arabic schools serving Muslim communities.

He questioned the wisdom of introducing Chinese when Ghana was still struggling to effectively teach French, and stressed that major curriculum changes must receive Cabinet approval.

The President’s comments on education should prompt us to confront an uncomfortable truth: Free SHS has solved one major problem, access, but access alone cannot guarantee quality education.

The policy has dramatically expanded participation in secondary education, but that success has placed enormous pressure on infrastructure, teachers and school management.

The World Bank confirms that enrolment increased sharply after Free SHS was introduced in 2017, outpacing available infrastructure and teacher capacity. The result has been continued reliance on the double-track system and disruptions to learning.

To The Chronicle, government’s decision to create dedicated funding for Free SHS is therefore welcome.

Funding delays that affect food supplies and the ability of schools to operate should never become a recurring feature of a programme on which hundreds of thousands of families depend. Indeed, in April 2026, GETFund released GH¢199.47 million to clear outstanding payments to Free SHS and TVET suppliers, including arrears for perishables.

But dedicated funding must mean more than promises of timely releases. There must be transparent, predictable and accountable financing that allows schools and suppliers to plan with confidence.

The proposed end to double-track by 2027 is equally important. The 2026 Budget allocated GH¢1.1 billion towards ending the system, while the World Bank’s newly approved US$300 million secondary-education project will support the expansion and upgrading of learning spaces and improvements in teaching quality.

Government must, however, ensure that new classrooms do not become the sole measure of success. We need enough qualified teachers, laboratories, libraries, digital facilities and instructional materials to make increased access meaningful.

The President’s comments on examination malpractice also deserve serious attention. If stricter invigilation produces results that more accurately reflect students’ abilities that should be welcomed rather than politicised.

WAEC continues to investigate examination irregularities, including withheld results in 2026. The country must resist the temptation to judge education by impressive grades alone. Honest assessment is essential because policymakers cannot fix learning deficits they cannot accurately measure.

Finally, The Chronicle thinks the controversy over Arabic and Chinese exposes another weakness: poor communication around curriculum reform.

NaCCA’s official curriculum already recognises French and Arabic among language learning areas, while curriculum development is intended to build competencies rather than simply increase the number of subjects.

There is nothing inherently wrong with exposing Ghanaian children to foreign languages. But curriculum expansion must be driven by educational need, teacher availability and national priorities not public excitement or political rhetoric.

Ghana should therefore move beyond the question of whether children are in school. The harder question now is whether they are learning, being honestly assessed and receiving an education capable of preparing them for work and citizenship. That is the standard by which Free SHS must ultimately be judged.

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