President Nana Akufo-Addo has stated that over 5.7 million students have benefited from the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme since its inception in 2017.

During his tour in the Western North Region, the president noted that despite facing several challenges, the program’s achievements outweigh them.

Akufo-Addo emphasised that Free SHS has been instrumental in improving Ghana’s education system, enabling more students to pursue higher education.

The programme, according to him, has not only increased access to education but also uplifted communities by providing young Ghanaians with opportunities to enhance their prospects through education.

He explained that prior to becoming president, over 100,000 Junior High graduates could notcontinue to Senior High School annually due to financial constraints.

This, he believes resulted in approximately 1 million students being unable to transition to Senior High School over a decade.

However, he added that since the Free SHS programme’s launch in 2017, the educational landscape has transformed dramatically.

“In the first place, before I became the president, every year our children after graduating from the Junior High level, over 100,000 were not able to continue to SHS. Even when they passed, because of the financial challenges of their parents, they were unable to proceed.”

“So ten years – which means that over 1,000,000 kids are unable to proceed in their educational transition but today because of the Free SHS, which started in 2017, to date the changes that have come in our educational system are dramatic.”

“When I assumed the reigns of government, we had 800,000 students in senior high school but today the figure is doubled and today 5.7 million students have benefited from the Free.”