The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has raised objections to the government’s decision to extend the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy to include private schools.

Government says the initiative is aimed at expanding access to secondary education and easing overcrowding in public SHSs.

Deputy Minister for Education, Dr. Clement Apaak, announced the move on May 27 while unveiling revised school selection guidelines for candidates preparing to sit the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

He explained that the inclusion of private schools in the Free SHS programme forms part of a broader plan to expand capacity and phase out the double-track system.

“As part of our campaign promise, we’ve worked diligently to bring private senior high schools on board. Meetings and engagements have been held, and we are confident that with the commitment from both sides, private schools will deliver,” he said. “This step will also help us eliminate the double-track system.”

But GNAT’s General Secretary, Thomas Musah, has pushed back against the policy shift, cautioning that it may worsen the already strained resources in the public sector.

“We don’t want the situation where tomorrow the government will come and tell us that there are no resources to teach in the public schools, and so we are adding on to those that parents have to pay. Already we have been calling for parents who can pay fees to pay, or should be made to make some contributions.

“We have not yet been able to get all these things done. So, to be adding on to the already existing burden will be serious, and I have some difficulty with it,” he stated.

Govt to extend free SHS policy to private schools next academic year