Former Education Minister Matthew Opoku Prempeh, popularly known as NAPO, has said Free SHS has helped remove poverty as a major barrier to secondary education in Ghana.
Marking nine years since the policy was introduced on September 12, 2017, NAPO said the programme ensured that a child’s opportunity to attend secondary school did not depend solely on whether the family could afford it.
“As Minister for Education at the time, I had the privilege of leading that implementation together with the Education Ministry and its agencies, teachers, public servants, education professionals and many others who worked behind the scenes,” he said.
NAPO said Free SHS had moved from a political promise to a policy experienced by Ghanaian families.
He also urged successive governments to protect policies that benefit citizens instead of allowing political changes to determine their survival.
“Where a policy is helping Ghanaian families, every government should have a responsibility to preserve what works, correct what does not, and leave the system stronger than it found it,” he said.
NAPO said he was proud of his role in the early implementation of Free SHS but stressed that the focus must now move beyond access.
“Access must increasingly lead to quality. Education must lead to skills, skills must lead to opportunity, and opportunity must lead to the kind of development Ghana needs,” he said.
“Free SHS opened the door, but the next task is to make sure education leads somewhere,” he posted on social media.
