Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, has urged the government to take a second look at the Free Senior High School programme, otherwise known as “Free SHS”.

Speaking in an interview with Channel One TV on October 20, 2025, Professor Aryeetey asserted that the focus of the policy must be turned towards producing quality graduates and not just quantity.

He indicated that parents are not happy with the quality of education their wards were getting under the scheme.

He added that if the policy was so successful, the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government led by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would have returned to power.

“If Free SHS was such a big winner, why didn’t the NPP come back? Many of the parents whose kids are in school are becoming dissatisfied with it.

“They like the idea of free, but they don’t like what their children are bringing home. So, it is a matter of having a discussion with them.

“You can still say it is Free SHS if tuition is free, but you have to pay for the boarding house,” he added.

Know all 25 private schools included in the Free SHS policy

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