The Ministry of Education has announced plans to pay GH₵994 annually for each student placed in private senior high schools under the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme.
This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry and the Conference of Heads of Private Second Cycle Schools, marking a new phase in the inclusion of selected private institutions in the national Free SHS policy.
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu explained that the initiative, expected to cover about 25,000 students, is part of government’s broader strategy to phase out the double-track system in public schools.
“Government is committed to providing a stipend to support the transition of students moving into private schools. That figure is negotiable, but for a start, this is the commitment we are making for this pilot inclusion,” the Minister said.
He emphasized that the pilot will serve as a learning process to determine the feasibility of integrating more private schools into the Free SHS scheme in the future.
President of the Conference of Heads of Private Second Cycle Schools, I.K. Mensah, welcomed the initiative and outlined the details of the pilot arrangement.
“For now, the pilot covers only day students, with government paying GH₵994 per child enrolled in participating private schools,” he clarified.
He further explained that parents who wish to have their wards as boarders would be required to pay the difference between the government’s support and the school’s boarding fees.
“If a school charges GH₵2,000 for boarding, for instance, the government’s GH₵994 covers part of it, and the parent settles the remaining amount with the school,” he added.
According to the Ministry, the initiative aims not only to relieve congestion in public schools but also to strengthen collaboration between government and the private education sector in delivering quality secondary education for all.