Free SHS - Posterity will vindicate Nana Addo

“A government may not be able to make every citizen rich. But, with political will and responsible leadership, a government can help create a society of opportunities and empowerment for every citizen, and I know no better way to do so but through access to education”. 
(Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Official launch of Free Senior High School. Tuesday, September 12, 2017)

Posterity has vindicated Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on his numerous policies including the implementation of the Education Act 1961 (Act 87).
Posterity will equally vindicate President Akufo-Addo on his numerous policies particularly on the implementation of free Senior High School (FSHS) policy. 

Education Act 1961 (Act 87)

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s Education Act 1961(Act 87) made six years of primary followed by four years of middle schooling fee-free and compulsory, and any parent who failed to send their school-going child to school committed an offence liable to a fine of £10.00.  

The motivation was to widen access to education at the primary and middle school levels and also create awareness of the need and importance of education for national development, especially among rural and economically disadvantaged communities.

At the beginning of the new school year in September 1961, nearly 57 per cent more children – 219,480 compared to 123,407 children the previous year - entered Primary One. 

According to the Ministry of Education Report of 1963: 

“Temporary structures were put up and other accommodation were pressed into service, so that in all, 2,000 new primary schools were opened, ... where no extra buildings could be found a two-shift system was adopted, and at the beginning of the school year, 832 primary and middle schools had classes operating in this way”. 

A total of 27 secondary schools were built to bring the total number to 68 in the first year of its implementation in 1962. 

The 1961 education reform also led to increased enrolment into teacher training colleges, the upgrading of post-middle school teacher training from two to four years and the government's decision to pay salaries of public schools’ teachers, a responsibility which was previously borne by the local authorities. 

Post-elementary technical and vocational education was also tackled.

Free secondary education

In September 2017, barely eight months into office, and exactly 56 years after Dr. Nkrumah’s fee-free primary and middle school education, President Akufo-Addo implemented the free SHS in fulfilment of his long standing manifesto promise. 

The purpose of free SHS is to provide free, universal equitable access to quality secondary education that prepares and equips the youth with employable skills for the world of work and aptitude for further academic work.

The implementation of the free SHS policy led to increases in enrolment in senior high and TVET schools, such that in 2018, the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) registration jumped from 468,060 in 2017 to 521,710 in 2018. 

Considering that the infrastructure then – only 290,737 spaces available for 472,730 students who qualified for enrolment – a potential 181,993 learners might not have gained admissions if the traditional academic system was to be used. 

Government introduced an all-year-round, double track school calendar and run a semester system for senior high schools, to replace the age-old trimester system.  

The double track school calendar, is an innovative temporary measure of using the existing infrastructure to accommodate the growth in enrolment, while an infrastructure expansion programme is being implemented to end the system as soon as practicable.

To meet its target, government through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) has completed 3,077 legacy and new projects including dormitories, classroom blocks, and many other facilities as of September 2024. 

Further, government ensured that quality teaching and learning are raised by deploying nearly half of the over 100,000 teaching and non-teaching staff employed into Ghana Education Service, into SHS to augment its staff. Government provided textbooks and other resources and, increased teacher-students contact hours from 1,080 to 1,134 hours a year. 
 
Criticisms of the policies 

Nana Addo and Nkrumah’s education policies share a number of features in common; they both aimed at increased access to education, one at the primary and middle school levels, the other at the secondary school level. 

Similar to the Education Act 1961 (Act 87), free SHS offers fee-free education and had to expand infrastructure to accommodate increases in enrolment. 

Both policies had to innovate to accommodate the increase in enrolment; one introduced two-shift system, the other a double track and semester system. 

Just as the free SHS is receiving a barrage of criticisms, Dr. Nkrumah’s education policy did too. It was said to be generally over ambitious and lacked proper planning, as many schools were without their full establishment of teachers and other resources before implementation of the policy.

In 1961, while there was over 100 per cent increase in primary and middle school enrolment, with some classrooms set under trees, turn out of teachers to fill the classrooms was delayed for almost two years because, the then pre-elementary teacher education was moved from two to four years.

The government filled the vacant positions with hurriedly trained school leavers referred to as pupil teachers.  

McWilliam and Kwamena-Poh (1975) report that between 1961 and 1966, nearly nine thousand trained teachers qualified and the total number of teachers in the classrooms increased by 28 per cent while that of untrained teachers went up by 165 per cent. 

Similar to FSHS, critics at that time, raised concern about quality of education.

These criticisms notwithstanding, the Education Act of 1961 (Act 87) has been described as one of the policies which has made significant impact and caused major transformations in educational development in post-independent Ghana. 

The story of Dr. Nkrumah’s education reforms, gives us hope that in spite of the numerous criticisms of the FSHS, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will surely be vindicated one day.  How soon? Well, we leave that to posterity!

The writer is a Professor and former Director-General of Ghana Education Service. kopokuamankwa@gmail.com