The Chief Executive Officer of the Media Foundation for West Africa {MFWA}, Sulemana Braimah, says the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme is a good initiative but was poorly implemented and politicised.

“I think it’s a great programme and I have always said that, except that it’s been politicised and implemented in a very terrible way,” he said.

He claimed that the government failed to explain to Ghanaians that the programme is not entirely free, saying, “It would have been great if the government had been more transparent and open about the process, so that teachers would have a role to play, and parents would have a greater role to play, rather than saying it's Free SHS and I’m doing everything, I’ll provide uniforms, and then two years down the line uniforms haven’t been provided, textbooks aren’t provided, but parents have to buy textbooks, exercise books aren’t provided, but parents have to buy exercise books, and so on.”

Mr Braimah was speaking on Joy News’ AM Show News Review with Benjamin Akakpo on Monday, November 11, 2024.

He opined that stakeholders should be analytical in discussing the programme, “So that we don’t just repeat the kind of things that politicians would want to repeat.”

Many Ghanaians have, over the years, criticised the programme, saying it was not implemented at the right time. Others are also of the view that the initiative has reduced the quality of education in the country.

The Nana Addo-led government implemented the Free SHS initiative in 2017 as one of its key promises made to Ghanaians prior to his victory in the 2016 election.

According to available data, current enrolment in the country’s secondary schools stands at around 1.4 million, compared to 308,799 prior to 2016.