Govt allocates GH¢3.5 billion to fund Free SHS programme in 2025

The central government has allocated an amount of GH¢3.5 billion to fund the free Senior High School (Free SHS) education programme for this academic year, the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has announced.

Presenting the 2025 Budget Statement and Economic Policy in Parliament on Tuesday, March 11, 2024, he said the government has uncapped the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) in other to allocate enough money to fund the free secondary education programme.

The Finance Minister further disclosed that the central government aside from uncapping GETFund has significantly increased funding for key educational initiatives aimed at improving access to quality education and easing financial burdens on students.

“Mr Speaker, the overarching concern about free secondary education has been its quality and the absence of a dedicated source of funding. H.E. President John Mahama has resolved the funding challenge by uncapping the GETFund. This makes available dedicated funds for the full financing of free secondary education and free tertiary education for Persons with Disability (PWDs)

By removing the cap on GETFund, the government will provide an additional GH¢4.1 billion for financing free secondary education and other educational expenditures. Dr Forson further disclosed that the Daakye bond debt service, which includes interest and principal contracted by GETFund, will now be absorbed by the government to free up resources for education.

As part of efforts to enhance tertiary education access, the government has introduced the “No-Academic-Fee” policy, which will cover all first-year students in public tertiary institutions. A total of GH¢499.8 million has been allocated under the ‘No-Fees-Stress’ initiative, which aims to remove financial barriers for students and their families.

To further improve the quality of basic education, the government has committed GH¢564.6 million for the comprehensive provision of free curricula-based textbooks. This includes four sets of KG books and workbooks for 2.8 million learners, four sets of primary textbooks for 800,000 learners, and nine sets of JHS 3 textbooks for 540,000 learners.

Under the School Feeding Programme, the budgetary provision has been increased from GH¢1.344 billion in 2024 to GH¢1.788 billion in 2025, reflecting a 33 per cent increase. As part of this, the feeding cost per meal per child per day will rise from GH¢1.50 to GH¢2.00.

Additionally, the government has boosted funding for the Capitation Grant, increasing the allocation from GH¢84 million in 2024 to GH¢145.5 million in 2025, marking a 73.2 per cent increase,” the Finance Minister told Parliament.

Dr Cassiel Forson assured Parliament that these policy shifts will enhance education quality, expand access to tertiary education for marginalised groups, and provide sustainable financing for the Free SHS programme.

The Sector Minister in Charge of Finance said the John Dramani Mahama government had allocated GH¢564.6 million for free curriculum-based textbooks to improve learning conditions.

“Mr Speaker, we have also allocated an amount of GH¢564.6 million for the comprehensive provision of free curricula-based textbooks covering four sets of KG books and workbooks for about 2.8 million learners, four sets of primary textbooks for 800,000 learners and nine sets of JHS 3 textbooks for 540,000 learners,” Dr Ato Forson said.