In pursuit of equity in upper secondary education

The curious case of Ghana’s free senior high school policy

Bibliographic Data

ID21522491
AuthorsAboabea Gertrude Akuffo (0000-0002-6578-5860, University of Oxford, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume52
Issue3
Pages2255-2280
Publication date2025-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Australian Educational Researcher (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0311-6999 • E-ISSN: 2210-5328
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s13384-025-00810-y
OpenAlexW4407666661
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited21

The Free Senior High School policy is Ghana’s attempt at actualising the SDG 4 global consensus on free upper secondary education. Using grounded theory method, this research scrutinises the Free SHS 2018 policy and strategy document, alongside interviews with policymakers, to answer the question: How does the equity provision ensure fairness in upper secondary education, and what equity blind spots exist? Specifically, the study employed a purposive sampling technique, allowing for the deliberate selection of data sources that ensured the collection of focused, meaningful data aligned with the research goals. The findings underscore a disconnect between the policy’s equity intentions and solutions. For example, the policy highlights that, intersectional differences—such as economic, school-based, gender, and regional factors—persist and drive inequitable access. However, these issues are inadequately addressed because the policy applies cookie-cutter-style economic solutions to all inequity concerns. Policymakers from within, and outside from government, hold diverse perspectives on the impact of this disconnect on sub-populations. The former underscores political and technical accountabilities where increasing numbers of enrolment are equated to equity, while the latter underscores differential policy effect sizes on sub-population to mean inequity. Curiously, the policy has improved access despite the equity conundrum, weak economy, lack of private–public initiatives, declining GDP allocation to education, no selective fee waivers, and neglect of secondary education expansion prerequisites. The paper advocates realigning the policy’s equity dimension with its equity goals

Economic growth · Economics · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · Education Systems and Policy · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Law · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology · Public Administration

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