President John Mahama has reiterated his government’s commitment to improving the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme, dismissing claims that he intends to abolish the policy introduced by his predecessor, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in 2017.

According to President Mahama, the decision by his government to retain and improve the programme demonstrates its commitment to ensuring that Ghanaian children have access to secondary education regardless of their financial circumstances.

He made the remarks during his ongoing tour of the Upper East Region, where he commissioned an E-Block school facility as part of efforts to expand educational infrastructure in the region.

President Mahama said claims that he would scrap the Free SHS policy if elected were part of what he described as propaganda by his political opponents during the 2024 election campaign.

He said his administration had no intention of abolishing the programme, but would rather implement measures to improve its delivery and address challenges that had emerged since its introduction.

"One of our major Resetting Ghana Agenda is that we will improve the quality and access of education at all levels, including secondary. And so we set out to resolve some of the challenges that had bedevilled especially secondary education since the beginning of the Free SHS.

I remember during the campaign (in 2024), there was a devious campaign going around that when Mahama comes to office, he is going to cancel Free SHS. I can believe now that you can all see that it was all propaganda," he said.

"We are rather improving the Free SHS so that the learning outcomes and the quality of education are better. Before we came to office, there was a challenge of feeding Senior High School students; we have largely resolved that, and the quantity and quality of food have improved," he noted.

The commissioning of the E-Block facility, he said, formed part of the government's broader efforts to expand infrastructure and improve the quality of education across the country.

The Free SHS programme was introduced in 2017 under the Akufo-Addo administration, providing tuition-free secondary education in public senior high schools.

The policy has since significantly increased enrolment, although it has also faced challenges relating to infrastructure, feeding, overcrowding and other resources.

President Mahama said his administration would continue to address those challenges rather than reverse the policy, stressing that the objective was to make Free SHS more effective and sustainable.