Implementation challenges of free senior high school policy in Nadowli-Kaleo District.

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the implementation of Ghana’s Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, focusing specifically on the challenges faced by teachers in the Nadowli-Kaleo District. This study centred on public senior high schools within the district to assess the effects of the policy on educational delivery. Adopting a pragmatic research paradigm, which prioritizes practical solutions to research questions and the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods; a sequential explanatory design was utilized, beginning with the collection and analysis of quantitative data, followed by qualitative data to explain and expand upon the quantitative findings. A sample of 258 respondents comprising 252 teachers and 6 hedmasters were selected from seven senior high schools in the district, with a random selection of 36 teachers from each school participating in the study. Additionally, purposive sampling was employed to identify six headmasters for in-depth interviews. Data were gathered through structured questionnaire and semi-structured interview guide. The quantitative data from questionnaires were analysed using frequencies and percentages, while themes were derived from the qualitative interview responses to support and enhance understanding of the findings. The study’s findings revealed that the school feeding program a major component of the free SHS policy had a notable impact on educational delivery, particularly regarding student punctuality and attendance. Many students reported dissatisfaction with the quality and adequacy of the meals, leading to recurrent lateness as they delayed coming to school or even returned home due to dissatisfaction. This unintended consequence posed challenges for teachers in maintaining a structured learning environment and highlighted specific areas within the policy’s implementation that require improvement. Nevertheless, the free SHS policy successfully reduced the financial burden on parents, with many acknowledging that the policy made it possible for their children to attend senior high school despite limited finances. The study concluded that while the free SHS policy has largely achieved its goal of reducing parents' financial burden and broadening access to education, certain implementation challenges particularly related to the feeding program need to be addressed to optimize its effectiveness. It is recommended that the government consider revising aspects of the free SHS policy. A nationally agreed-upon, modest levy for all SHS students could supplement the government’s budget and help improve meal quality and other resources.