Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has challenged the widely reported figures on the number of beneficiaries of Ghana’s Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme, calling for a comprehensive validation of the data.Speaking during his maiden visit to the Ministry of Education on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, following his swearing-in by President John Dramani Mahama, the Minister expressed skepticism over claims that 5.

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1 million students have benefited from the programme.“One of the very first major issues the country must interrogate is the statistical validity of how many Ghanaians have benefited from Free Senior High School,” he remarked.Haruna Iddrisu revealed that his independent analysis of data from 2017 to 2023 indicates that approximately 3.9 million students have benefited from the initiative, a figure significantly lower than the 5.

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1 million stated in public records, including parliamentary reports.“I am not saying mine is right, but 5.1 million was misleading because I have looked at the numbers from 2017 to 2023, and I am convinced that the number of students who have benefited from the Free SHS policy stands at not more than 3.9 million. But I need a validation of that data to begin with,” he explained.

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He emphasized that the objective is not to discredit existing reports but to establish accurate figures that can guide future educational policies and reforms.The Minister announced plans to convene a National Education Conference to examine the state of Ghana’s education system and formulate evidence-based reforms. He highlighted that verifying the Free SHS data will serve as a crucial foundation for these discussions.

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