The Free Senior High School Program has been hailed as creative and in need of protection by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff.
Following Ghana’s request for a financial bailout, the team left the country on Wednesday, July 13.
In an effort to determine what the nation can qualify for, the team, which arrived in Ghana on Tuesday, July 5 and got to work the next day, gathered information from meetings with a number of important players, including Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
What will happen to the Free SHS Program, which is cited as one of the expenses affecting the public purse, is one of the main worries since President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo asked his Finance Minister, Kenneth Nana Yaw Kuntunkunuku Ofori-Atta, to contact the IMF for an Enhanced Domestic Programme (EDP).
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But the IMF team has assured the government that the Programme will rather ensure “efficiency and sustainability” of the flagship education policy.
“We are still at an early stage in the discussions, but we believe that the free Senior High School (SHS) is an innovative policy that needs to be protected,” the Fund stated in its FAQs after the conclusion of the team’s visit on Wednesday.
“In general, IMF-supported programs seek to boost social spending while encouraging both efficiency and sustainability.
“As discussed above, the IMF-supported program would aim at protecting the vulnerable and creating conditions for an inclusive growth.”
