The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has announced that 25,000 students have been successfully placed in private senior high schools operating under the Free SHS programme, out of a total 44,000 declared vacancies across 70 participating schools.
He made this disclosure during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Education (MoE), the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS), and the Conference of Heads of Proprietors of Private Second Cycle Schools (CHOPSS).
According to the Minister, this effort marks a critical first step in the government’s broader plan to partner with private schools to improve access to quality education and to phase out the double-track system, which has long plagued the country’s secondary school structure.
“Without this intervention, those 25,000 students might have been left without schools,” Haruna said.
“That could have marked a terminal end to the academic journey of many young Ghanaians hoping to progress into tertiary education”, he added.
The Minister explained that the double-track system, which splits the school calendar into two streams to manage overcrowding in public schools, became necessary due to the previous administration’s premature implementation of the Free SHS policy without adequate infrastructure or planning.
“The Free SHS initiative under the previous government faced serious implementation challenges, particularly around placement and infrastructure,” he noted.
“What we’re doing now is correcting that by expanding access responsibly through strategic partnerships”, he added.
As part of the agreement, the government is providing GH¢250 per student to support their transition into the private system. While this amount is negotiable, the Minister stressed it was a starting point for deeper collaboration.
He praised the private schools for their willingness to join the national effort without demanding tuition fees upfront, calling it a “generous contribution to the public good.”
The government has also promised that budgetary provisions will be made in the 2026 financial year to support this initiative and ensure its sustainability.
This MoU, forms part of a larger commitment by the Ministry of Education to restructure and expand access to quality senior high school education for all Ghanaian students, in line with the 1992 Constitution’s guarantee of equal educational opportunities.
Story: theheraldghana
