Report by the Centre for Policy Scrutiny (CPS) has raised significant concerns over deep-rooted disparities in the distribution of resources under Ghana’s Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, warning that Category C and D schools continue to suffer chronic shortages while better-resourced institutions receive supplies more promptly and benefit from stronger external support.
The findings were presented by Dr Jacob Oppong Nkansah, a lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba, at a CPS Policy Forum under the, themed “Improved Access, Quality Questioned: A Report on Nine Years of Ghana’s Free SHS” offering a comprehensive stock-take of the flagship policy nearly a decade after its rollout.
According to the report, students across Ghana do not experience the Free SHS programme uniformly, with the disparity closely tied to a school’s official categorisation.
It found that Category C and D schools face persistent shortages of essential resources, including desks, dormitory beds and food, while Category A and B schools tend to receive supplies more promptly and benefit from stronger backing from Parent-Teacher Associations and alumni networks.
The report further highlighted specific welfare concerns arising from these disparities, noting that overcrowding in dining halls at some schools has become severe enough to pose genuine health risks to students.
It also observed that the timeliness of supply delivery to individual schools often depends less on formal allocation criteria and more on the lobbying effectiveness of individual headteachers, raising fairness concerns about how resources are ultimately distributed.
Categorisation System Flagged as a Structural Problem
Beyond resource distribution, the report identified the very system of ranking Senior High Schools into Categories A, B, C and D as a significant structural concern in its own right. Dr Nkansah argued that this categorisation framework risks entrenching, rather than resolving, existing inequalities within the secondary education system.
“Senior High Schools in Ghana have been ranked Category A, B, C and D, and we believe these categories will shape the experiences of the Free SHS policy, because evidence shows that categorisation reinforces inequality, stigmatises lower-ranked schools and raises questions on sustainability, quality and fairness,”
Dr Jacob Oppong Nkansah
CPS Recommendations on Resource Equity
In response to these findings, the CPS called on government to prioritise equity in how resources are distributed under the Free SHS policy, specifically directing greater support toward disadvantaged Category C and D schools.
The Centre recommended that government undertake a systematic audit of access gaps affecting students in remote and otherwise vulnerable communities, paired with phased and targeted interventions designed to support disadvantaged learners and institutions.
It further called for the establishment of a transparent resource-tracking system to improve accountability in how supplies and funding are allocated across schools, alongside broader reforms to the categorisation framework itself.
Specifically, the CPS recommended baseline-equal per-student funding across all school categories, while still allowing for additional prioritisation of schools facing the greatest resource deficits.
Sustainability Concerns Rooted in Weak Policy Planning
Beyond the equity concerns, the CPS study also raised broader questions about the long-term sustainability of the Free SHS policy, arguing that the programme was introduced without sufficiently rigorous policy planning from the outset.
According to the research, several key steps typically expected in policy development appear to have been overlooked prior to implementation, including a clear definition of the specific problem the policy was intended to solve, as well as adequate exploration of alternative approaches to achieving free secondary education in Ghana.
The study was direct in attributing this planning gap to the political context surrounding the policy’s introduction, suggesting that the drive to implement Free SHS was shaped more by political considerations than a rigorously tested implementation plan.
“Free SHS implementation was driven more by political advantage than a rigorously tested plan, leaving lingering doubts about how the policy will be funded and sustained in the long run,”
Dr Jacob Oppong Nkansah
Rising Costs Intensify Financing Questions
The report noted that the continually growing number of beneficiaries under the policy, along with the associated costs of sustaining it, has intensified longstanding questions about how the programme is financed and whether current funding arrangements remain viable in the long term.
This concern, the CPS said, adds urgency to calls for a clearer financial planning framework for the policy going forward.
Considering these findings, the CPS called for stronger financial planning around the Free SHS policy, alongside the development of a clear, long-term sustainability framework capable of ensuring the programme’s continuity beyond individual political administrations.
The Centre’s recommendations, taken together with its equity-focused proposals, point to a broader call for government to treat Free SHS not merely as a completed policy achievement, but as an ongoing programme requiring structural reform to secure both its fairness and its future.
READ MORE: Feed Children Five Times A Week Without Fail — Northern Regional Minister
