Even though the implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy according to some parents whose wards gained admission into the SHS this academic year has brought relief to them, others whose wards could not make due to challenges with the system have criticized the policy.
Some parents have complained bitterly because their children had good grades but did not get placement and others said they have been sent far away to other regions but were not placed in boarding houses.
Supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who spoke to ghanaweb.com on the sidelines of the party’s Founders’ Day solidarity march to commemorate Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday on Thursday, also registered their concerns about the policy.
Some said they are unhappy with the educational policy introduced by their rival party, the NPP because the policy is “fake, bogus”.
According to them, the cost involved in renting accommodation outside for their wards is even more than what they pay in the boarding houses prior to the introduction of the Free SHS.
“We don’t have adequate infrastructure to accommodate the children yet still the government claims the education is free. My 13-year-old daughter was placed in Volta Region so I have to rent a single room for her, I’ve to pay the landlord for three years which is even more than paying for the tuition of my child so it’s not free,’’ one of the women laments.
