Free senior high school devours basic education in Ghana: rescue the children Open Access

Basic education in Ghana has undergone numerous challenges such as resource inadequacy which affects the quality of teaching and learning (Inusah et al., 2022). Desiring a quality education in a country is the responsibility of stakeholders including traditional leaders (Boateng et al., 2024). The inadequate resources affect basic education management in Ghana calling for interventions. The need to trace the challenges of basic education using modern techniques is very vital (Inusah et al., 2021). In Issah et al. (2023), machine learning approach for the determination of attributes influencing learning and academic performance is presented. Inusah et al. (2023b) look at the use of expert systems to assist in the educational management of resources for effective teaching and learning. In Inusah et al. (2023a), a system with the approach of a neural expert system is proposed to manage basic education. A further evaluation of the educational system in Marfo Missah et al. (2023) to ascertain the resource availability and measures to provide resources for the children of school-going ages efficiently shows how time affects the availability of resources in Ghanaian schools resulting in a higher attrition. A review of data mining in education revealed the basic level is at a disadvantage (Fuseini and Missah, 2024) depicting a lukewarm attitude towards the basic level of education. In boosting quality education in Morroco, a quasi-experiment approach was used for a post-literacy program (Boukbech and Liouaeddine, 2024). The investigation of life-long learning to enhance competent human capital for gender equality and quality education can be seen in Alam et al. (2024). This shows other nations’ commitment to improving the quality of education and life-long learning. Enhancing life-long learning in shaping the professional development of staff is a catalyst for quality education in Ghana (Owusu-Agyeman, 2024).

The introduction of Free Senior High Schools (FSHS) into the Ghanaian educational system has gained much attention both locally and internationally (Asante et al., 2022). As a measure to enhance more inclusivity and equity in the acquisition of senior high education, the cost of teaching and learning is absorbed by the government of Ghana. This increases the government’s expenditure and also puts a burden on the limited resources of the country. Basic education in Ghana is the first level aimed at preparing the citizens with basic knowledge and enabling them to get the requisite expertise for senior high education. This level which is the foundation for growth and development in education is pivotal in the success of quality education in the country. Unfortunately, the introduction of FSHS education has negatively affected the provision of quality education as the government’s attention is focused on the success of the FSHS. Basic learning resources such as sitting places and writing places that are necessities for effective teaching and learning are inadequate for learners. Also, there is a higher attrition of experienced staff at the basic level to the higher levels of education without appropriate replacement.

Free Compulsory and Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) is the core of free education policies on which all other free education policies can be built in Ghana (Akyeampong, 2009). This was introduced to enable all manner of learners to gain access to quality basic education in the country. As basic education is the foundation, the success of other levels of education strongly depends on basic education. The introduction of FSHS however reduces the attention of the government of Ghana on basic education. The main goal of this paper is to ascertain the effect of FSHS on the quality of basic education in Ghana. The specific objectives for the paper are as follows:

• to identify the expenditure of FSHS and its effects on the quality of basic education in the country; and

• to ascertain the level of the educational indicators measuring performance at the basic level of education after the implementation of FSHS.

The organisation of the remaining part of the manuscript is in literature, methodology, results presentation, discussion of findings and conclusion, implications and limitations. The literature is about related works, methodology is on the approach and techniques adopted in the research. The findings are the revelations and conclusion is the generalisation and the implications are the inferences drawn.

Many research works in Ghana including (Schools et al., 2017), show major concerns in monitoring the key performance indicators of basic education. Also, policies and interventions that affect the growth and development of basic education in Ghana are researched to enable knowing the progress made in education (Asante et al., 2022). Educational indicators for measuring performance are very important in determining the progress of education in a country (OECD, 2021). These indicators can be grouped under output, impact and outcome of education, participation and progress within educational entities and input into the educational systems or learning environment. Table 1 is related to works on the effects of FSHS in Ghana.

Education in Ghana comprises management and administration, basic education, second-cycle education, tertiary education, non-formal education and inclusive and special education. Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the structure of the Ministry of Education.

The introduction of free education in 1961 catapulted the growth and development of basic education in Ghana by improving access to education(Akyeampong, 2009). This success was leveraged by the Free Compulsory and Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) introduced in 1996 to make primary education free and accessible to every Ghanaian child (Akyeampong and Hunt, 2016). Progressively, the quality of basic education improved as a result of the redistribution of educational resources to the Ghanaian schools and the subsequent intervention by the World Bank to support the Ghanaian educational system financially. In the year 2017, the Ghanaian government introduced FSHS education to enable graduates of the basic school to continue their education smoothly (Chanimbe and Dankwah, 2021). This however is not free from challenges just as other free educational policies in the country (Mohammed and Kuyini, 2021). A careful evaluation of the free educational policies in Ghana reveals a higher financial burden which puts stress on the economy of the country(Tawiah and Addai-Mensah, 2023). This affects the budget of the country and subsequently deprives other sectors of getting the attention they deserve from the government (Republic of Ghana MINISTRY OF FINANCE, 2019). This is worse when there is no external support. The lifting of the financial burden on parents results in the pressure on the government to use limited resources to address the needs of the policy. A redistribution of available resources in the country is needed to get the policies implemented effectively for the growth and development of education in the country (Budget, 2023). This redistribution affects not only sectors but also subsectors within the education sector. The aspects of education as well as the levels of education are affected in the distribution of the budget of education to help in addressing the needs of the policies. This suffocates other sectors of the economy as well as the other levels of education in the country.

Constituting the highest population of school-going ages, the basic education of Ghana is made up of three major levels. These are the kindergarten (KG), Primary and Junior High School (JHS) levels to cater for the population of school-going ages from 4 to 14 years (Ministry of Education Republic of Ghana, 2011). The appropriate age for a child in KG is 4–5 years, that of primary school is from 6 to 11 years and the JHS caters for learners from 12 to 14 years (Ministry of Education Republic of Ghana, 2018). These children are the most vulnerable and deserve more attention for their educational growth and development. This requires more support from the government. Resources at the basic level of education are inadequate to achieve quality education (Marfo Missah et al., 2023). The challenges of basic education in Ghana span across resource inadequacy and improper management of the available resources (Inusah et al., 2023a). These challenges strongly affect the quality of education at this level of education(Kurilovas, 2020). Despite the many difficulties faced by Ghana’s basic education, several progress are seen (Ministry of Education, 2015) Enrolments of learners increase at an exponential rate without an increase in resources. This puts pressure on the available resources for basic education in the country. The introduction of the FSHS has worsened the plight of basic education as government attention is now on the policy’s success. Out of 874 basic school structures initiated in 2017, only 109 projects were completed in 2021 (MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, 2022). As a result of the inadequate resources devoted to basic education in the country, the ministry conducted a National standardised test in all primary four which falls under the basic level of education to access their literacy and numeracy skills and over 62% failed basic mathematics and 50% failing basic English (UNICEF Ghana, 2023). Out of 1,000 Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcome Project (GALOP) schools inspected by the National School Inspectorate Authority (NaSIA), 522 (55.2%) had unsatisfactory infrastructure with about 441 (44.1%) rated for unsafe food safety. Over 425 (42.5%) schools were practicing multigrade teaching as a result of inadequate classrooms and teachers, while 876 (87.6%) schools were noticed with children sitting on the floor as a result of inadequate furniture. Only 125 out of the 1,000 schools had available data on external assessment with over 92.8% of them rated unsatisfactory. About 68% of the schools were rated with poor leadership and 23% of teachers were absent in these schools during the visit (NaSIA, 2021). This affects the performance of education in the country.

Secondary education in Ghana was originally called senior secondary school. It is the next level of education after the basic level. Specialisation in programmes starts at this level of education, focusing on preparing the learner for tertiary education. From Akyeampong and Hunt (2016), less than 50% of the JSS graduates could transit to the SHS before introducing free SHS. This clearly shows the level of challenges to secondary education in Ghana. Due to financial issues, the transition from JHS to SHS is as low as 50%. This was the major reason why the government of Ghana in 2017 decided to make education at this level free. The introduction of the FSHS has resulted in higher enrolment in schools (Chanimbe and Dankwah, 2021). More resources are needed to cater for learners in school. As a result, a double-track system was introduced to enable in effective utilization of the limited resources (Kwegyiriba, 2021). This resulted in higher attrition of experienced teachers from the basic level to assist in solving the problem of the teacher deficit at the SHS level as workload increased (Tseer et al., 2024). The importance of basic education to this level is on the transition of learners to be enrolled at this level. The situation however has a devastating effect on the basic education of the country. As the senior high level provides enrolment for tertiary education, poor quality education from the basic level which affects the quality of education at the senior high level moves to affect the quality of education at the tertiary levels of education (Adu-Gyamfi et al., 2020).

The apex of the Ghanaian educational system is tertiary education which prepares the learners for job acquisition. It is the level of education that prepares the country’s labour force with the requisite skills to man the industries for better growth and development. This level gets enrolled learners from secondary education. As the FSHS in Ghana gains ground, there is more pressure on the country’s tertiary education. The increase in the enrollment of the senior high with corresponding higher pass rates opens the floodgate to tertiary education. Pressure on academic facilities as well as lecturers is a common challenge in most tertiary institutions in Ghana (Badu et al., 2018). Qualified instructors who were teaching at the basic and secondary levels and had the qualification to lecture in the tertiary institutions keep moving to join the tertiary institutions leading to higher attrition of staff at the basic level (Chanimbe and Dankwah, 2021).

A convergent mixed method design as indicated in (Sharma et al., 2023) is used in this work to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from documents available from the stakeholders of education. Quantitative data from already existing reports with data on basic education are analysed to identify the effects of the FSHS on basic education in Ghana and ascertain the impact of the FSHS on the educational budget as well as the indicators of basic education in the country. This is followed by a qualitative data analysis of the reports to ascertain the gravity of the results in the quantitative data. The Ministry of Education in charge of education in the country and the Ministry of Finance in charge of resource distribution to various sectors of the country’s economy are the major institutions with relevant reports and data which assist in this research. Reports from organisations and institutions with a keen interest in education are also considered. The secondary data is therefore the source for this research using a document analysis.

Levitt et al. (2018) refer to this method as a mixed method where both quantitative and qualitative data are used to confirm or disconfirm findings. The quantitative data is analysed first to find answers to the research questions and the qualitative data is then analysed to compare the findings of the quantitative to the qualitative. This method was used purposely to have a complete understanding of the phenomenon by triangulating to find more detailed information in other to have a holistic view of the problem. The method helps to also enhance the validity and reliability of the findings as each method presents a perspective of the problem. Figure 2 is a diagram depicting the convergent mixed method design.

The results of the explored reports and data are presented in tables and graphs to enhance ease of readability to maximize understanding. This is done by considering the objectives of the work to ensure relevant information is presented:

• Objective one

To identify the expenditure of FSHS and its effects on the quality of basic education in the country.

To achieve this objective, quantitative data from the Parliamentary Committee on Education’s report was used and compared to the qualitative data from the reports of a non-governmental organisation called UNICEF Ghana.

A report by the Committee on Education on the 2024 annual budget estimates of the Ministry of Education reveals a massive shift in the interest of the government from basic education to secondary education. For the budgetary allocation for 2023 by programme and expenditure, basic education was denied access to goods and services, while all other aspects of education were given their share. Second-cycle education was the second largest after tertiary education. This clearly shows the lukewarm attitude of the government on basic education. Table 2 shows the results.

Further, the committee observed that about 6.5 million students out of about 9.5 million have a full complement of student textbooks. This means over 3.0 million students do not have the full complement of textbooks for their studies. This does not enhance inclusivity and equity. Alluringly, only 20% of the monies owed to the publishers of the books were paid. This affected further production.

A report from the UNICEF Ghana, 2023 Education Budget briefing for the year 2023, reveals a decline in the performance of basic education in the country. The following are excerpts from the report:

• Objective two

To ascertain the level of the educational indicators measuring performance at the basic level of education after the implementation of FSHS.

This objective was achieved by using quantitative data from the Ministry of Education’s Educational Management Information System (EMIS). The most recent reports from the inception of the FSHS starting from the 2016/2017 academic year are used. Qualitative data from the medium-term expenditure framework from the years 2022–2025 is used to compare and get the most accurate findings.

The indicators for measuring the performance of learners as evidence of quality education at the basic level consist of both infrastructural and educational outcomes. The increase shows an improvement and a reduction shows a dilapidating effect of FSHS on the quality of Basic Education. For this study, indicators from the period specified are used in concluding. Figure 3 is a presentation of the basic education indicators.

In the budget estimates for the year 2022, there is a surge in the enrolment of private schools despite the fees and the economic challenges. More than 42% of basic schools are private schools charging fees for operation. This is a clear shift in interest of parents from public or government-owned schools to private fee-paying schools for quality education despite the evidence of professionally trained teachers in public schools over private schools. It is due to the dilapidated nature of infrastructure and the inadequate teaching and learning resources to facilitate effective teaching and learning. Only parents who cannot afford to pay fees for private schools enroll their wards in public schools especially the lower levels (KG and primary). The following were the reports presented by the government of Ghana in the framework:

“Basic Education is predominantly provided by Government-operated facilities. There are 42,544 Public basic schools and 31,093 Private basic schools spread across the country which caters for the needs of 8,369,170 learners. The private schools are self-funded and registered by the Ghana Education Service.

There are 15,226 public Kindergartens and 12,104 private Kindergartens which cater for the needs of 1,820,443 pupils. There are 38,653 teachers in public Kindergartens and 91.9% of them are trained. There are 25,000 teachers in private Kindergartens of which 13% are trained. The government is pursuing a vigorous programme to train teachers in early childhood teaching methodology. The sub-programme has an in-service training programme for teachers to ensure that they have up-to-date knowledge of the curriculum and related teaching and learning materials.

There are 15,622 public primary schools and 11,685 private primary schools which cater for the needs of 4,729,514 pupils. There are 106,501 teachers in public primary schools of which 96% are trained. There are 66,276 teachers in private primary schools of which 17% are trained. The sub-programme has an in-service training programme for teachers to ensure that they have up-to-date knowledge of the curriculum and relevant pedagogy.

There are 11,696 public and 7,304 private junior high schools which cater for the needs of 1,819,213 students. There are 94,027 teachers in public junior high schools of which 96.8% are trained. There are 37,294 teachers in private junior high schools of which 26.9% are trained. The sub-programme has an in-service training programme for teachers to ensure that they have up-to-date knowledge of the curriculum and related teaching and learning materials.”

From Table 1, already existing research works on the effect of the FSHS is about the opinions of people regarding the implementation of the policy. This public perception may be deceptive as the populace are carried away by the free fee policy. The mere cost shift from parents to the government makes the policy an attractive one. This research however analyses documents from the various stakeholders of education to know the reality of the effects of FSHS on the quality of basic education in the country.

In, the UNICEF reports, it is clear that quality education is compromised at the basic level of education in Ghana. The poor performance of learners is largely attributed to the inadequate resources for effective management of basic education. The attribution of the poor performance of the learners to the COVID-19 pandemic is a secondary issue after the deprivation of basic education from vital resources that can enhance effective teaching and learning. This is reflected in Figure 4 in the educational indicators for the various years.

From Table 2, it is clear that government expenditure on education is managed by reducing the spending on basic education. Compensation which is the inevitable expenditure for basic education is the only expenditure the parliamentary committee could identify. This is clear evidence that goods and services at the basic education level are sacrificed to manage the government’s spending on education. The inadequate educational resources for effective teaching and learning at the basic level of education can be attributed to this. Goods and services for secondary education and tertiary education are GHC 25,019,801 and GHC 1,550,241,496, respectively. This shows the lackadaisical attitude of the government in spending on basic education.

The results in Tables 3 and 4 show irregular spending of government on the levels of education. This means there is no careful plan for the government’s spending on education in the country. Government spending on basic education has been reducing since the year 2017 when the FSHS was implemented. The expenditure on management and administration however is on the rise as a result of the training and monitoring which is aimed at reducing expenditure on education. Performance contracts are signed by the educational management to ensure targets are met. This however does not suppress the expenditure since the pressure on tertiary institutions calls for interventions in absorbing the qualified applicants Figure 3.

As indicated by Inusah et al. (2022), the poor-quality education at the basic level in Ghana is attributed to the inadequate resources which leads to equity and inclusivity gaps in education. Evaluating the basic educational system already indicates the need to carefully plan in the provision of resources (Marfo Missah et al., 2023). Carefully addressing this issue requires the use of proper techniques to carefully identify the challenges of education before addressing them. Integrating expert systems to help in the effective management of basic education will help in addressing some of the challenges (Inusah et al., 2023b), using neural or deep learning may also help in carefully tracing the challenges to the appropriate intervention that can help in addressing them (Inusah et al., 2023a).

Despite the achievement of increasing enrolments at the basic level of education, enrolment at the public schools reduces while that of private schools increases for the basic level of education. This is a shift in the focus from public to private as a result of the poor quality of education in public basic schools due to inadequate resources.

The introduction of the FSHS in the Ghanaian educational system has helped in increasing enrolment. However, resource inadequacy has affected the effectiveness of the policy in the country. The quest to ensure the survival of the policy puts pressure on stakeholders to divert resources, especially for basic education. Annual budgetary allocations for basic education keeps diminishing without the provision of basic educational resources such as sitting places and writing places which makes some learners sit on the floor to write. The attrition of experienced professional teachers to join SHS to address the challenge of teacher deficit creates more deficits at the basic level and reduces quality education. A higher number of out-of-school children is noticed with a corresponding increase in enrolment in private schools which depicts poor quality resulting in well-to-do families enrolling their wards in private schools while poor parents who cannot afford to relax in sending their wards to school. This affects the policy of FCUBE.

Educational policymakers should ascertain the consequences of a policy on the economy before implementation. The devastating effect of educational policy on other educational policies should also be considered when bringing in a new policy. As policies leverage existing policies, new policies must not devour already existing policies which are still relevant. An educational policy at any level must consider the basic policies of education that enhance inclusivity and equity at the lower levels of education. This will help in maximizing the effective implementation of the policies. Through this, nations can promote life-long learning with inclusivity and equity in education.