President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the free Senior High School (SHS) program is delivering results.
This was based on the results of the 2022 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
“The 2022 results are the best of the last 8 years. Surely there can be no longer any controversy about the validity of the free SHS policy and its consequential measures, it is working and working well,”
Nana Akufo-Addo said in a Facebook post after addressing the 70th Anniversary Celebration of Opoku Ware Senior High Schoo
According to President Akufo-Addo, “six (6) years on following the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy, which has guaranteed a minimum of Senior High School education for 1.7 million Ghanaian children, the highest such enrolment in our history, I can state, without equivocation, that I am very proud of the policy and its results thus far.”
Delivering an address at the 70th Anniversary Celebration of Opoku Ware Senior High School, on Saturday, 3rd December 2022, the President noted that the 2022 WASSCE results of the third batch of the “Akufo-Addo graduates” shows 60.39% of students recording A1-C6 in English, as opposed to 51.6% in 2016.”
In Integrated Science, he noted that 62.45% recorded A1-C6 in 2022, as opposed to 48.35% in 2016, with the 2022 result being a slight regression from the 2021 pass rate of 65.70%.
President Akufo-Addo added that 61.39% of students recorded A1-C6 in Mathematics, as compared to 33.12% in 2016; and 71.51% recorded A1-C6 in Social Studies, as compared to 54.55% in 2016.
Regarding the Kumasi-based Opoku Ware Secondary School, he further stated that undoubtedly, one of the best Senior High Schools in Ghana, the name of this school naturally evokes the memory of that great warrior King of Asante, Okatakyie Opoku Ware I, who succeeded and consolidated the gains of his uncle, Opemsuo Osei Tutu I, and helped expand Asanteman to her greatness and fame.
“We take pride in his name, and that of all the great kings of the Osei Poku Oyoko Dynasty, including the latest descendant, the outstanding Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who have done so much to bring renown and glory to our nation and its history.
“I congratulated management, past and present, teaching and non-teaching staff, and students for bringing Opoku Ware School this far.
“The can-do spirit that saw to the birth of the school, laced with fortitude and dignity, in the face of inevitable challenges, embodies the Ghanaian spirit that we must continue to nurture to realize our full potential as a nation.”
The President called on all Ghanaians, in these difficult times, to support the fiscal measures that the Government has proposed to enable us to achieve the goal of restoring macroeconomic stability and promoting inclusive growth, whilst protecting the poor.