There is increasing pressure on both the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to indicate a systematic approach to reviewing the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy in their respective manifestoes.

Issues regarding the re-evaluation of the Free SHS policy have become very topical following the release of the JoyNews Hotline documentary titled "Empty Plates." The documentary exposed the unbalanced meals to which students have been subjected.

The push for a review resurfaced during the JoyNews' Ghana Connect Townhall meeting in Kumasi on March 26. Many participants have been strongly urging both the NDC and the NPP to be clear about the policy and their manifesto plans to sustain it.

• Read also: JoyNews’ ‘Empty Plates’ Hotline Documentary highlights acute shortage of food in SHSs

A teacher, Perfect Aseye Nani, stated that although the policy has been helpful, it was time it was re-evaluated. She said it appeared that the policy was currently more concerned about the number of beneficiaries rather than the quality of education.

“Free SHS is a nice policy, it has helped so many people but I think that there are so many things that need to be done. It might be free today but there is a fee (price) to pay. Why am I saying this? What is the main objective of Free SHS? Is it to provide quality education or it is about the quantity or the number of students that have benefited from the Free SHS?

• Read also: Engage stakeholders to review Free SHS policy – President of Paediatric Society

“Now when you come to the grounds, you will see that things are not working well but they [government] are not telling us the truth. I don’t know whether they have feedback from the grounds on what is actually going on,” she said.

She challenged the leading political parties to be sincere about their approach to resolving the education crisis.

“I dare the NDC and NPP to boldly come in their manifestoes to tell us how they want to review this free SHS because it is costing us a lot.

“I will suggest that Ghana needs more of the TVET education. So they should make the TVET free but if you want to go to SHS, the government can take part [of the school fee] and leave the rest for the parents to do.

“Now they [students] are in school and feeding them is a problem but the government is still insisting on free. Our kids are being starved. So, I urge the NDC and the NPP to come boldly and tell us what they want Ghanaians to benefit from Free SHS,” she added.

Christiana Osei also suggested that the government channels the money invested in the Free SHS into Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

She argued that there was a human resource gap in technical and vocational skills, therefore, the government could bridge this gap by making technical and vocational education more attractive to the youth.

“Please, I think my sister [Perfect] just made a part of my suggestion, in respect to the TVET being free. To me it shouldn’t just be free but it should be made very attractive.

"Students completing TVET education should also be given equipment to start their own business. In doing so, I think the rate of unemployment will come down. They will also employ some of their sisters or brothers in the house,” she said.