The implementation of Nana Addo’s main campaign promise to provide free public senior high school (SHS) education in Ghana will begin from the 2017/2018 academic year.
According to him, he is committed, “without any equivocation, without any reservation to take Ghana to the stage where public Senior High School education will be totally free for every Ghanaian child.”
The free public SHS education, he said, was aimed at building an educated populace for speedy national development and progress.
Below Are 7 points That Explains Nana Addo’s Free SHS Policy
1- By free SHS means free tuition. Starting from the 2017/2018 academic year, students from all public tertiary schools in Ghana will not pay even a cedi as tuition fees. Every student be it a day student or a boarding student will be required to sit in the classroom and learn without anybody demanding a cedi from the said student.
2- Free SHS means Free Admission fees. There will be no admission fees for any public senior high school in Ghana starting 2017/2018 academic year. Admission fees are normally paid by Form one students or student who have just completed basic school and are qualified and gainfully gained admission into senior high schools in the country. Admission fees are normally paid once at the beginning of one’s secondary education and it is mostly the highest component of the fees paid by newly admitted students into SHS in Ghana. Nana Addo says Free SHS means Free Admission fees.
3- Free SHS means No Library Fees. Library fees are normally paid by every student in Ghana. Even the schools that do not have any library building nor even a single book to be placed in a library are charged library fees every term. Nana Addo says free SHS means No more library fees.
4- Free SHS means no more science centre nor computer laboratory fees. Students who have never seen a computer in their lives before are normally asked to pay computer fees and even Visual Art students are sometimes asked every term to pay science center fees. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says no more science center and computer fees starting next academic year.
5-Free SHS means no more examination fees. The funny thing is examination fees are mostly charged in the regular school fees bill sheet as well as in the PTA dues in some schools. Well, starting next academic year where Nana Addo’s free SHS will be in full gear, there will be noting like examination fees.
6- Free SHS means free boarding. This is the interesting part of the whole free SHS policy. Students in the boarding house will not be required to pay anything as boarding fees. You may just have to carry your chop box to the dormitory or hostel upon approval and start sleeping and living as a boarder. But wait ooo, will there be free house dues too? I kind of need answers.
7- Free SHS also means free food. Meals for boarders as well as day students of every public senior high school across the country will be totally free. Boarding students will have the liberty to have a three square meal everyday at no cost of theirs and Day students too will also have one meal everyday in school for free.
“Free SHS will cover not only senior high schools but also agricultural, vocational and technical institutions at the high school level,” Nana Addo said.
Speaking as the Special Guest of Honour at the 60th Anniversary celebration of Okuapeman School Saturday, February 11, 2017, Nana Addo said his government had a well thought-out plan that involved the building of new public and cluster SHSs to give more meaning to free public SHS education.
Free SHS was the biggest campaign promise of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2012 and 2016 general elections.