The Government of Ghana has announced that it has allocated GH¢3.5 billion towards the Free Secondary Education Programme for the 2025 fiscal year.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday during the presentation of the 2025 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, Finance Minister, Dr. Ato Forson revealed that the government has resolved the longstanding funding challenges for the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy by uncapping the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).
"Mr. Speaker, the overarching concern about free secondary education has been its quality and the absence of a dedicated source of funding. H.E. President John Mahama has resolved the funding challenge by uncapping the GETFund. This makes available dedicated funds for the full financing of free secondary education and free tertiary education for Persons with Disability (PWDs)," Dr. Forson stated.
He explained that the government will amend the Capping and Realignment Act to uncap GETFund, ensuring that GH¢4.1 billion in additional funding is directed towards financing the Free SHS programme and other related educational expenditures.
"Aside from the uncapping of GETFund, we have also absorbed the debt service, made up of interest and principal, from the Daakye bond GETFund contracted," he added.
Dr. Forson further outlined that GH¢564.6 million has been allocated for the provision of free curricula-based textbooks.
This will cover four sets of kindergarten books and workbooks for 2.8 million learners, four sets of primary school textbooks for 800,000 learners, and nine sets of Junior High School (JHS) 3 textbooks for 540,000 learners.
Additionally, the government has increased budgetary allocation for the School Feeding Programme from GH¢1.344 billion to GH¢1.788 billion in 2025, representing a 33% increase.
This will raise the feeding cost per meal per child per day from GH¢1.50 to GH¢2.00, an increase of 33.3%.
In support of teacher and nursing training, Dr. Forson announced that GH¢203 million has been allocated for the payment of teacher trainee allowances, while another GH¢480 million will go towards nursing trainee allowances.
The Capitation Grant has also seen a significant boost, increasing from GH¢84 million in 2024 to GH¢145.5 million in 2025, representing a 73.2% rise.
Dr. Forson emphasized that these measures reflect the government’s commitment to improving the quality of education and supporting Ghana’s future workforce.
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith
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