Ghanaian economist Dr Sa-ad Iddrisu has criticized the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme, stating that it is producing high school leavers in their quantity without quality.

According to him, the long-term outcome of the programme will not benefit the nation, but instead will create a generation of “dummies.”

He said, “In ten to fifteen years, excuse me to say, we are going to have a generation of dummies.”

Dr Iddrisu explained, “Akufo-Addo would have gone down in history as the best president with Free SHS. Honestly, it is a brilliant policy because if you educate human resources, then you have a growing generation. However, the Free SHS has ended up producing quantity instead of quality.”

He added, “To the point that people get into universities and cannot do basic arithmetic. I am not the one saying it; university professors have come out and said it.”

Speaking on the Joy News AM Show on Monday, the economist further argued that Ghana’s future is at risk. “You wouldn’t let your mother, daughter, or son be treated by such a nurse (a beneficiary of Free SHS); that is what Free SHS is doing to our generation,” he said.

Dr Iddrisu also argued that the generation of students who paid for secondary education will be better equipped than those who benefited from the Free SHS programme. “You and I, who paid for quality education, our generation will be better off than the next generation that will come,” he said.

He further claimed that the policy has not contributed to a significant increase in literacy among Ghanaian children, stating, “Free SHS has not improved literacy at all.”

The Free SHS programme, introduced by President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2017, was designed to make senior high school education accessible to all Ghanaian children, regardless of their economic backgrounds.

In November 2024, the outgoing president claimed that over 5.7 million students have benefited from the policy since its launch, although that figure has been disputed.

The African Education Watch for instance puts the figure at 3.1 million beneficiaries referencing official figures from the Ministry of Education.