Abstract:

In 2001, the Government of Ghana introduced subsidies at the Senior High School to reduce the burden on parents and guardians of wards in such schools. Recently, there has been intensive debate on fee-free senior high school education in Ghana. While some see this as preposterous and unimaginable, others consider it as a poverty alleviation option and a panacea to provide the required cadre of youths with skills needed for the economic development of Ghana. This paper considers the feasibility of how such a policy may improve access to senior high school education in Ghana and be sustained. This paper examines some policies and practices on funding secondary education in Ghana and solicits stakeholders views through interviews, focus group discussions and documentary study on the realities of secondary education from various stakeholder perspectives. Findings suggest that a uniform fee-free policy approach will include a sizable number of students who do not need to be supported by government in their secondary schooling. The study further finds out that demand for secondary education, particularly, regarding low-income families, may not always be dependent solely on fee-free secondary education but on other cost variables, including opportunity costs and the perceived economic returns from such education. The study concludes with some feasible choices on the need to adopt painstaking approaches to identify those who are needy and a fundamental objective for such policies to benefit the poor.

Keywords:

Fee-Free Secondary Education, Educational Access, Demand for Education, Pro-poor.