Ghana’s government will need about GH¢2.8 billion next month, which begins the next academic year, to cater for all the 1.2 million Senior High School (SHS) students under its flagship free SHS policy.

Currently, the government spends about GH¢2,312 on each SHS student per year, and this means that government will have to raise GH¢2.8 billion to meet the tuition demands of all the 1.2 million students who will be under the policy from September.

This large number of students who will begin the next academic year in September is the highest SHS population the country will witness since independence. The country currently has in place, the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) that covers primary and junior high education.

It is estimated 50 percent of JHS graduates do not have access to SHS due to lack of funds and accessibility. So, the first year of the program’s implementation saw the enrolment of over 400,000 students in the various secondary schools. Last year, about 500,000 students also benefited from the program.

This year, over 500,000 JHS candidates sat for the BECE, and they will receive their placement into the various SHSs by September. The increase in government spending on education in next year’s budgets the enrolment for SHS is expected up to 1.3 million students.

Already, the government spent about GH¢800 million on the Free SHS policy since its implementation.

In 2018 budget, GH¢455.9 million petroleum revenues were allocated to the Free SHS program. President Nana Akufo-Addo, during the launch of the free SHS policy in 2017, said his government would invest revenues from oil in one of the most ambitious social programs of the country’s history – that is, the Free Senior High School policy.

However, since its announcement that the government intends to use oil money to fund the free SHS policy, there have been criticisms by some civil society groups. That, it is risky for the government to rely solely on oil revenue funding the free SHS program. Insisting the government must diversify its sources in funding for the program, due to the instability of oil prices on the world market.

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