Free SHS will fail - IMANI

The Head of Economics at IMANI, Patrick Stephenson says governments implementation of the

According to him, "The way we had talked about the whole free senior higher education and how it’s going to be implemented, the idea itself may not be a problem, but how we should treat it within the structure of the educational system as we speak today so that the targeted persons get to benefit".

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over the weekend has said his government will absorb the cost of Senior High School education beginning September 2017.

The free public SHS education, Nana Addo said, was aimed at building an educated populace for speedy national development and progress.

"By free SHS, we mean that in addition to tuition, which is already free, there will be no admission fees, no library fees, no science centre fees, no computer laboratory fees, no examination fees, no utility fees. There will be free textbooks, free boarding and free meals and day students will get a meal at school for free.

In an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Patrick Stephenson said "I think that’s been the problem to the extent that we have not seen sufficient clarity from the current government, is making it very difficult to appreciate what the intended objectives are".

However, a retired Ghanaian diplomat, K.B Asante says the implementation of the free public senior high school (SHS) education by government is not feasible.

According to him, the implementation is not sustainable adding that parents should be responsible for the education of the children they bring on earth, not the state.