President Nana Akufo-Addo has stated unequivocally that his administration has brought so much transformation to the nation’s educational sector. The outgoing President in his final State of the Nation Address (#SONA2024) said there can never be a reversal of the fact that some 5.7million young Ghanaian children have gained access to secondary education, who would otherwise not have had the opportunity but for free SHS and free TVET.
“We have transformed education, and there can never be a reversal of the fact that some five-point-seven million (5.7 million) young people have gained access to secondary education, who would otherwise not have had the opportunity, but for Free SHS and Free TVET.
“However, I believe this is one of the rare occasions on which we can use the word transformational without any danger of abusing the word” he maintained.
In his remarks, President stressed that, “Mr Speaker, I am proud that we were brave enough to have started the Free SHS policy at the beginning of my first term and resisted the calls for a gradual introduction. I am glad that we have removed from the Ghanaian mindset the belief that secondary school education is only for people from certain households and families”.
President Akufo-Addo said: “Indeed, my administration has also prioritised Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), establishing thirty-four (34) new TVET institutions and upgrading sixty-two (62) existing ones to equip our youth with 21st century skills.
“Mr Speaker, if arguments still rage over what there is to show for the fight against galamsey and the effects of irresponsible mining, there can be no such arguments about the introduction of the Free SHS and Free TVET programmes, another policy that did not have universal approval when I sought to introduce it on coming into office” he argued.
Performance
The President justified his claims with performance statistics of the beneficiary students compared to previous results recorded in the erstwhile NDC government.
According to him, from 2020, when the first cohort of Free Senior High School (FSHS) candidates sat for the WASSCE, Ghana has consistently recorded over fifty percent (50%) of candidates scoring A1 to C6 in all four (4) core subjects. This, he stated marked a stark improvement compared to the years prior, particularly the period when pass rates in core subjects were largely below fifty percent (50%).
He disclosed that this year’s results, [the 2024 results], have maintained the laudable trend from 2020, saying indeed, only fifty-one-point six percent (51.6%) of candidates achieved A1-C6 in English in 2016, compared to a much higher sixty-nine point five[1]two percent (69.52%) in 2024. For Integrated Science, Nana Akufo-Addo indicated that the pass rate improved from forty-eight point three-five percent (48.35%) in 2016 to fifty-eight point seven-seven percent (58.77%) in 2024.
He added Mathematics demonstrated the most dramatic progress, rising from a mere thirty[1]three-point one-two percent (33.12%) pass rate in 2016 to an impressive sixty-six point eight-six percent (66.86%) in 2024 followed by Social Studies with a similar trend – improving from fifty-four point five-five percent (54.55%) in 2016 to seventy-one point five-three percent (71.53%) in 2024.
Arguably, President Akufo-Addo stated the 2023 WASSCE results stand out as the best in the history of the examination, with record-breaking performances across all core subjects and intimated it is obvious that the government’s reforms have not only expanded access, but have also enhanced the quality of education.
