President Nana Akufo-Addo has said the introduction of the free Senior High School  (SHS) has broaden access for more students.

READ MORE: School kids in Bolga study on bare floor over lack of furniture

The president, who was speaking at the Oda Senior High School in the Eastern Region, said the enrolment figures given to him by the school's authorities leaves him with no conclusion that the programme is "working."

He said: “I am happy to see from the breakdown given by the Headmaster that the ‘Free SHS’ is, indeed, working. More and more students are entering secondary school than before. The breakdown was that the numbers in SHS 3 are 718, SHS 2, i.e., students from the first year of the policy are 854, and the current SHS 1 students total 1,130.

“So the purpose of free SHS, i.e., broadening access bringing more and more people, you are the clear evidence that it is working. I am very happy about it,” he added.

Critics of the free SHS programme have said the policy is not working as they envisaged.

READ MORE: Redefining the scope of public relations in academia: A case of GIJ Level 200

They point to multiple media reports of congestions, lack of furniture and bedbugs in some of the schools to make their claims.