The Free Senior High Policy: An Appropriate Replacement to The Progressive Free Senior High Policy

Abstract

Governments all over the world have been improving their educational sector through funding programs aimed at reducing the financial burden on parents, increasing access and quality to education. The government of Ghana in 2017 switched policy to a free senior high school policy to reduce poverty by finally eliminating the financial burdens parents face in paying their children's fees. This study seeks to evaluate the appropriateness of the free senior high policy in replacing the pre-existing progressive free policy. The questionnaire survey was used to collect primary data for this study. The descriptive statistics were used in analyzing the data of this study. A total number of Two hundred (200) responses were retrieved, and out of those retrieved, 57 were females, and 143 were males. All 200 responses were usable in this study. The free senior high policy proved to put more butts on seats in helping to reduce financial burdens on parents than the pre-existing progressive free policy since nothing is paid by parents or guardians.

Free Senior High School (SHS) and Quality University Education in Ghana: The Role of the University Teacher

“…Abdul-Rahaman et al ( 2018) have added that the policy "seeks to bridge the enrollment gap between the rich and the poor". It also aims at increasing the enrollment of students and improving quality through academic performance (Abdul-Rahaman et al, 2018). The rationale behind free education in Ghana is not different from what we see from other countries that have implemented same.…”

“…There are also studies that focus on the nature of the relationship between academia and government among others. Some of these studies include the works of Green (1971), Friesen and Boberg (1990), Barrett et al (2006), Morley et al (2009), Asiyai (20132015), Hameed (2017) and Abdul-Rahaman et al (2018) that draw our attention to pertinent issues concerning education, the role of teachers and free education among others. Other studies covering Senior High School education in Ghana such as Bibby and Peil (1974), Lloyd and Gage-Brandon (1992), Acheampong (2010) and Hameed (2017) have addressed the question of enrollment, performance and how these impact on students, households and the country at large.…”

Responding to access and beyond in Fee-free policies: Comparative Review of Progressive Free Senior High and Free Senior High School policies in Ghana

“…FSHS replaced PFSHS policy in September 2017 when NPP was re-elected to office in January 2017. The policy absorbs all direct cost of schooling and other indirect costs throughout upper secondary school institutions in the country (Abdul-Rahaman et al, 2018). In summary, PFSHS was limited in scope and coverage where full tuition and admission fees or registration fees were not absorbed by the government for all students while FSHS is holistic, absorbing all fees for all students throughout the country.…”

“…This study is different from other studies in fee-free policies in Ghana and elsewhere in several important dimensions. Previous studies either focused on the evaluation of only FSHS (Essuman, 2018;Mohammed & Kuyini, 2021); FSHS effects on quality university education (Adu-Gyamfi et al, 2020); FSHS challenges and ways to improve it (Asumadu, 2019); the appropriateness of the replacement of PFSHS with FSHS (Abdul-Rahaman et al, 2018); or fee-free policies and its effects on teachers and headteachers and income of male and female teachers (Chapman et al, 2010;Molyneaux, 2011). This study evaluates two fee-free policies concurrently on how they responded to the problem of school access that is the low rate of transition from lower secondary to upper secondary.…”

Predictors of School Choice: The Case of Parents in Cape Coast, Ghana

“…However, the introduction of 'free' Senior High School (SHS) education in the country is helping to reduce the effects of these emerging patterns of inequalities among the various socioeconomic status groups, particularly in the area of schooling. Currently, under the free SHS education policy, parents do not pay tuition, library, boarding, science laboratory, examination, utility, and Parents Teachers Association (PTA) fees when they choose a public SHS (Abdul-Rahaman, Abdul-Rahaman, Ming, Ahmed & Salma, 2018). In addition, there are free meals for both boarders and day students and free textbooks for all at the SHS level (Abdul-Rahaman et al, 2018).…”