Renowned broadcast journalist and TV3’s ‘New Day’ morning show host, Roland Walker has suggested that the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy in Ghana should target the poor.

In a discussion on the ‘New Day’ show on Thursday, June 22, 2023, Roland Walker expressed his views on various government initiatives, including the Free SHS program.

He urges government to cover students from poor backgrounds for the impact to be heavily felt.

"I think that Free SHS, as it is, I think that it has to be targeted. If you're poor and cannot pay, then the government has to pay. That's my opinion," Walker stated during the discussion.

Acknowledging the positive impact of initiatives such as "One Constituency, One Million Dollars" and "One Village, One Dam," he emphasized the need for such programs to be continued by future administrations.

The Free SHS policy was introduced by the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government with the aim of providing access to secondary education for all Ghanaian students.

Since its implementation, the policy has significantly increased enrollment rates in senior high schools across the country.

Free SHS policy is poorly targeted – IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) criticised Ghana’s free Senior High School policy saying, although it has increased enrolment, it is poorly targeted.

“Ghana spends close to 4 percent of GDP on education with good results in terms of enrolment but poor learning outcomes. The flagship programme Free Senior High School (SHS), which covers the full cost of secondary education, has helped increase enrolment but is poorly targeted,” IMF said in a country report released ahead of the approval of the country’s $3 billion bailout.

The report added that key identified areas of “potential improvement of education spending include strengthening primary education resources, better teacher training, and stronger performance-based funding practices.”