‘I’ll give Free SHS 4/10, probably less in terms of quality; it has lowered the standard of education’ – Former UG Vice-Chancellor

A former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah has rated government’s flagship Free SHS programme below average.

According to Prof. Addae-Mensah, the 4/10 rating was based on quality.

Speaking on the ‘AM show’ on Joy News on March 28, he stated that the free SHS policy has lowered the standard of education in the country.

According to him, the programme has created an influx in the number of second cycle students in the country.

However, the increase in quantity Prof. Addae-Mensah said does not match up with measures to increase quality.

“I must be frank, when it comes to its effect in terms of quality of education, I won’t give it anything more than four, probably less. If anything at all it has lowered the standard of education. It has increased numbers, there’s no doubt about it, but an increase in numbers does not reflect an increase in quality. I’m very frank about that,” he opined on the show.

He indicated that the wholesale policy is limiting the quality of the country’s education right from the second cycle level to the tertial level.

“Quality is very important. I would not say quantity isn’t. if you give everybody the chance to have a brush with some form of education higher than where they would normally have been it is a plus, but when you produce people who after going through school for ten years can’t even spell their own names, can’t even speak a sentence of English correctly and I’m afraid it goes all the way from the lowest level even to our universities and I will not mince any words on this,” he intimated.

He continued saying “I wouldn’t say quality has improved, if anything it just keeps going down.”