Former Finance Minister Seth Terkper has raised concerns about the government’s responsibility in bearing the full cost of the free senior high school (SHS) programme.
He suggested that Ghana should adopt a model similar to Europe and the United States, where free SHS is limited to day students.
Introduced by the Akufo-Addo administration in 2027, Ghana’s free SHS programme has so far cost GHS 9.9 billion. Terkper questioned how the incoming Mahama government plans to generate revenue to fund programmes like free SHS while also removing certain taxes as promised.
Speaking on TV3 on Friday, December 13, Terkper said, “Those in the diaspora, please you need to come into this discussion. Secondary education is free in Europe, and secondary education is free in the US, but they are day schools. The best government is doing, for instance in the US, is to put in yellow buses which you have to stop to give priority to the buses to take the kids to school.”
He further explained that boarding schools in rich developed countries are typically attended by the elite who can afford the high costs, or by talented students who receive scholarships. “Why don’t we follow their examples? What makes us think that we should support free SHS unfettered? Unfettered in the sense that the government takes every cost. The warning came in 2018 early in the administration when we used GHS 2.2 billion of bond to support free SHS,” Terkper added.
Also commenting on the same show, Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance, Mr. Joe Jackson, expressed concerns about the incoming Mahama administration’s ability to generate revenue for development if it removes the taxes it promised to abolish. Jackson highlighted the challenges in managing the economy, especially in relation to the manifesto pledge to remove taxes such as the e-levy.
Ahead of the 2024 general elections, NDC candidate John Dramani Mahama promised to scrap several taxes within his first 100 days in office, including the e-levy, COVID levy, 10% levy on betting, emissions levy, and import duty on vehicles and equipment for industrial and agricultural purposes.
Speaking on TV3, Jackson said, “Let us not be mistaken, in 2025, we have to look at how we are performing in terms of revenue because some of the items are going to go out. There has been a manifesto commitment to take out the e-levy, betting tax, the COVID levy. So a lot of issues are going to come out and I have no doubt in my mind that the challenge is going to be huge.”
He added, “You say you are going to remove tax A, B, C, D. But where is the money going to come from?”
When asked why anyone would want to be president in 2025 given the impending challenges, Jackson responded, “Because somebody has to step up and rule, somebody has to step up and fix the country, somebody has to step up.”
