John Mahama promises review of Free SHS Policy in first 100 days of office

John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has announced his intention to conduct a comprehensive review of the Free Senior High School Policy (Free SHS) within the first 100 days of taking office, should he be elected in the 2024 general elections.

Speaking at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Accra on Tuesday, November 7, Mr. Mahama emphasized the critical role of a solid basic education foundation. He outlined his plan to assemble a panel of educational experts to formulate an improved framework for implementing the Free SHS policy, which has been a cornerstone of Ghana's education system.

He expressed his belief that the review should include a broad spectrum of stakeholders. The proposed stakeholder summit will involve educationists, teachers, parents, students, and opinion leaders, and aims to enhance the Free SHS system and elevate the quality of basic education.

Mr. Mahama stated, Within the first 100 days in government, we will convene a stakeholder summit that brings together educationists, experts, teachers, parents, students, and opinion leaders to deliberate on how to improve the implementation of the Free SHS system and also improve the quality of our basic education.

In addition to this commitment, Mr. Mahama proposed a return to using the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) for student assessments within the regional bloc, which was the practice before the introduction of the Free SHS policy.

He argued that solely relying on local exams administered and graded by Ghana might not provide an accurate assessment of student performance when compared to their peers in neighboring English-speaking countries. By returning to WAEC's regional exams, the quality and competitiveness of Ghanaian education could be better evaluated.

Right now, we write a local Ghana exam, we mark it ourselves, we mark our own scripts and we give ourselves high marks. If you don't have any benchmark to compare, how can you tell you are improving? Mr. Mahama pointed out.

The announcement of these plans underscores the significance of the Free SHS policy and its future in Ghana's education landscape.

By engaging various stakeholders and considering international benchmarks, Mr. Mahama's proposal aims to ensure that Ghanaian students receive a high-quality education that prepares them to compete not just nationally, but also within the broader West African region.

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