Free SHS was a missed opportunity for true social transformation – Gbande

Mustapha Gbande criticized the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy. He called it a missed opportunity for real social change in Ghana. He blamed poor execution and political motivations for its failures.

Gbande is the Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He acknowledged that the Free SHS initiative had a visionary principle. However, he said the government failed to invest in infrastructure and teacher welfare.

“I struggled to pay my school fees. Free SHS would have helped people like me,” he stated. He recognized the policy's potential to ease economic burdens on many families.

He lamented that a chance to build a quality education system was lost. “They fed students poorly and didn’t invest in infrastructure,” he noted. Teachers were also not motivated, which affected execution.

His criticism comes as concerns grow over the Free SHS programme's quality and sustainability. Many education stakeholders are calling for a review of the policy. Gbande’s comments reflect worries about access versus quality and long-term planning.

He argued that the policy served more as a campaign tool than a genuine effort to reduce inequality in education. “Free SHS was a good policy, but poorly executed,” he concluded.