Free SHS beneficiary figures inflated due to accounting method — Former MoE PRO

Kwasi Kwarteng, the former Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ministry of Education, has clarified the discrepancies in the reported number of Free Senior High School (Free SHS) beneficiaries.

The previous administration claimed that 5.7 million students had benefited from the policy, but several fact-checking reports have debunked this figure as false.

According to data from the 2024 mid-year budget review presented by the Ministry of Finance, the total number of beneficiaries of the Free SHS policy from 2017 to 2024 stands at 3,135,754, as revealed by Fact-Check Ghana.

A report published by the organization on December 5, 2024, indicates that this figure is 2,564,246 lower than the 5.7 million claimed by the previous Akufo-Addo's government.

The current Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has also conducted an audit of the figures since assuming office.

Reacting to the issue in a social media post on Thursday, January 30, Kwasi Kwarteng stated, “The perceived discrepancy in the total number of beneficiaries under the Free SHS program stems from a financial accounting technique used by the Ministry of Finance. This approach first appeared in Ghana’s 2024 Budget Statement and was subsequently repeated in the last State of the Nation Address delivered by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.”

He further explained, “For financial reporting purposes, the Ministry uses a cumulative budgeting approach instead of relying on nominal yearly enrollment figures. This method results in each student being counted as a separate beneficiary for every year they remain in school under the program. Consequently, a single student would be counted three separate times over their three-year period in Senior High School.”

“Using annual enrollment figures available at the Free SHS Secretariat, the accurate total number of beneficiaries under the Free SHS program stands at 3,511,733 as of 2024. This figure aligns with official data provided by the Ministry of Education in all its communications. The Ministry’s funding has been based on enrollment figures as stipulated above.”