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The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has revealed that 25,000 students have so far been placed in private senior high schools (SHSs) across the country as part of the government’s pilot programme to integrate private schools into the Free SHS policy.
According to Obenfo Nana Kwasi Gyetuah, Executive Director of GNACOPS, 70 private schools across all 16 regions have been selected to participate in the initiative, collectively declaring 44,000 vacancies to support the pilot.
“We have integrated 70 private schools across the 16 regions in Ghana, and in totality, the vacancy that has been declared is 44,000,” he said on Citi Eyewitness News on Thursday, October 16.
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“But as we speak now, the government has been able to place 25,000 students in these schools. We are yet to complete the other schools for them to have the vacancies that they have declared.”
The integration of private schools into the Free SHS programme forms part of the government’s broader strategy to ease congestion in public schools and gradually phase out the double-track system.
Under the pilot scheme, the government will provide GH₵994 per student annually to support the education of day students placed in participating private institutions. This financial arrangement was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Education and the Conference of Heads of Private Second Cycle Schools.
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu explained that the funding is aimed at ensuring equitable access to quality secondary education across both public and private schools.
The GH₵994 allocation covers tuition for day students, while parents who prefer boarding will pay the difference between the government’s contribution and the school’s boarding fees.
I.K. Mensah, President of the Conference of Heads of Private Second Cycle Schools, welcomed the initiative, noting that while the current phase focuses on day students, discussions are ongoing to expand the programme and possibly review the funding model in future phases.
The full integration of private schools into the Free SHS programme is expected to broaden access to secondary education, reduce infrastructure pressure on public institutions, and strengthen collaboration between the public and private sectors in Ghana’s education landscape.
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