Going to town on Free SHS 

As a general rule, I am a firm believer in the Akan proverb which when literally translated into English says ‘if you are dead, get used to your grave’.

In its original context, the admonition is meant for spirits of the departed, who are not content to stay in the afterworld, but keep floating back to the land of the living to nose around. 

My culture of silence

Since moving from the Ministry of Education (MoE) to the Ministry of Energy in March this year, I have deliberately imposed a culture of silence upon myself as far as publicly discussing education matters is concerned, whether in this column or on social media. 

This is for two principal reasons. First, it was important for me to get to grips with my new brief and quickly assimilate into this highly technical sector, so I needed to focus. 

Secondly, I believed it was important to allow the new communications team at the MoE the space to grow into the sector without stealing their shine. 

The Akan admonition became a good compass.

My vow of silence seemed to be going pretty well, but events on JOY FM’s morning show literally all of last week on the Free SHS programme meant that the brick wall had to come down and I had to crawl out of the rubble. 

To quote one of my most favourite columnists of all time, the late columnist Prof. P.A.V Ansah, once of A69 Prabiw Street, Saltpond, “I am hereby serving notice that today, I am going to town…”, 

Joy Super Morning Show

Last week, Joy FM, on its morning show, purported to discuss the Free SHS programme. 

The calls came in thick and fast, with a litany of complaints, from vacation scheduling to the quality of food served during extra classes, to the sustainability of Free SHS, all the way to what was mysteriously described as ‘academic capacity’ being affected by the programme, whatever that means. For three days running, no one in this country who called into the programme seemed to have a good thing to say about Free SHS. 

One parent stated that the quality of food in her child’s school under Free SHS was so bad that she had to fork out GH¢3,000 for provisions for the child, to the amusement of many. She was not challenged over her strange assertion. 

Unsurprisingly, this subject generated a lot of heat in the political space, because take it or leave it, Free SHS has become political, as a flagship New Patriotic Party (NPP) campaign promise and, therefore, an object of derision – at least initially – by the National Democratic Congress (NDC). 

I would have thought that in the name of fairness and balance, a major media house that sought to discuss such an important  and politically sensitive programme would have formally notified the Ministry of Education or Ghana Education Service (GES) and invited its representative to be a part of each morning’s programme in order to react to some of the issues raised as they came up, rather than bundle them to the tail end to respond to three days of literally unbridled assault.

No single story

Like every human institution, the Free SHS programme has its share of challenges, which have been freely and publicly admitted to by ministers and Ghana Education Service (GES) officials. 

What I find objectionable and risible is the tendency by some to throw literally every challenge in our SHS education system at the door of Free SHS, whether it is juvenile delinquency, overcrowding or food quality. 

That narrative suggests that these issues did not exist before the programme was rolled out, which, of course, is absurd. 

This is not to suggest that they should not be taken on board and dealt with, but we must be careful to separate the policy from the structural issues, rather than bundle them together in a messy conversation. 

The story of Free SHS cannot be just the litany of complaints that tumbled in last week, nor can it be a fairy tale of snowy virtue. 

The Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Adichie, reminds us of what she calls ‘the danger of a single story’. 

What I see

Beyond the doom and gloom narratives of last week, which I fully believe Deputy Director-General of the GES, Dr Tandoh, has adequately responded to, and beyond the real challenges, I see the miserable tide of over 100,000 children every year passing the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and getting placed in SHS but not being able to take up their place stemmed in a matter of years. I see the SHS population jump from 800,000 to 1.2 million in four years, mopping up mostly poor children who would have been left behind.  

I see poor and desperate parents who were at their wits’ end whenever school reopened and had to go begging  for fees now relieved. 

I see bright children who had no hope of going to SHS because their parents were poor, now in some of our top schools and doing well. 

I see children who no longer have to face the shame and humiliation of being driven away from school for owing fees.  

I see each SHS student given free textbooks for each of the four core subjects – the first time this has ever happened in SHS – along with free uniforms, exercise books and others. 

I see state-funded academic interventions to ensure children do not miss out.  

I see over 1000 physical structures initiated by this government in its first term in a bid to accommodate the extra numbers arising out of Free SHS, with over 400 completed. 

I see an improved West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) performance last year by the first cohort of Free SHS graduates. 

Of the 465 students in West Africa who scored 8As at the examinations in 2020, 411 came from Ghana. I see these and many more to warm the heart, despite the several challenges that are being dealt with.

Several conversations

There are several conversations to be had around our education system as a whole at all levels – on curriculum and its relevance to our needs, on quality instruction, which dovetails into teacher training quality, on supervision and accountability, on the boarding system and on many more. 

These structural issues pre-date Free SHS, and even if the programme were cancelled today, they would still exist. 

What we need is a calm, unbundled conversation and not a shouting match or one-sided narrations. 

Now back to my silent grave. 

Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng,

E-mail: rodboat@yahoo.com