Deputy Minister-designate for Education, John Ntim Fordjour, has disagreed with assertions that the Free SHS programme has resulted in quality of education being sacrificed for quantity.

Speaking during his vetting by Parliament’s Appointment Committee, Monday, June 7, he said that the annual performance of the education sector and the 2020 West African Examination Council report showed that the country has improved greatly in terms of academics.

“Recently when the 2020 WAEC report was announced, out of 465 students in West Africa who scored A1 in all eight subjects, 88%, 411 to be precise, were Ghana Free SHS graduates,” he said.

Rev Ntim Fordjour added that for the first time, 50% of WASSCE graduates from Ghana passed all their core subjects.

His comment comes after some Ghanains, including headteachers, teachers, parents, students complained about the challenges confronting the free SHS programme.

These challenges, including lack of accommodation facilities resulting in students sleeping on the floor, congestion in classrooms, inconvenience relating to erratic schedules for the double-track system, according to many, are affecting teaching and learning.

However, Rev Ntim believes that the successes chalked by Free SHS highlighted in the WAEC report is a huge gain for the country as a whole.

“Considering the annual performance of the education sector , also the WAEC reports that we have seen, and comparative studies that are available indicate that education outcomes are improving steadily for the past years.”

He stated that this is a narrative that the country must be so proud of adding that, “for this reason, I do not think that quality has been compromised.”