The government says it spent some GHS5.3 billion on Free SHS in 2021.
This was disclosed by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta during the 2022 Mid-Year Budget Review presented before parliament today, Monday, 25 July 2022.
The amount he noted was to enable some 1.2 million children access to senior high education.
He said the President Akufo-Addo-led government has placed human capital development at the core of its national transformation efforts since 2017.
“We have invested GH¢5.3 billion to enable 1,261,495 Ghanaian children access to secondary education under the Free SHS programme at the end 2021 to improve access to education. Out of the 571,892 registered JHS candidates, 555,353, representing 97.1 percent, were placed into SHS this year,” Mr Ofori-Atta told parliament.
He noted that the government is was aware of reported challenges in accessing and transporting food for students in SHS and “we are fixing it.”
In response, the Minister stated that the government has engaged stakeholders and devised a programme that ensures that schools will not be disrupted and the students are well-fed.
He further disclosed that the government has also recently completed 17 additional projects including classroom blocks, dormitories, staff bungalows and libraries as part of infrastructural expansion in Senior High Schools without mentioning the beneficiary schools.
He dispelled reports that free SHS was under review saying “Mr Speaker, we shall not compromise on President Akufo-Addo’s commitment to giving all our children the opportunity to be educated from kindergarten to university, without the ability to pay being a hindrance. Free Secondary and TVET education are not under review. We will continue to fund them and we will continue to improve them.”
Discussion about this post