How Equitable and Sustainable is Secondary School Fee Abolition in sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from Ghana

Now that many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have made progress towards increasing enrolment in primary education many governments see secondary education as the next frontier. Fee abolition is an increasingly popular policy to improve access to secondary schooling and Ghana is one of the pioneers in this regard. The Government of Ghana abolished all fees for Senior High School (SHS) as of the 2017-18 school year, in line with the ruling party's campaign promise. This major policy initiative provides a unique opportunity to study the impact and implementation of secondary school fee abolition in real time and to draw lessons for policymakers in Ghana, as well as other countries that are considering the abolition of secondary school fees. The research team will conduct a rigorous, mixed method evaluation of Ghana's Free SHS Policy, focussing on 1) equitable access, 2) maintaining quality and 3) sustainable implementation.

Dr Rob Gruijters, University of Cambridge; Dr Leslie Casely-Hayford, Associates for Change (AFC) Ghana