Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has justified why his administration will abolish the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) Secretariat.

The former president said he will scrap the secretariat due to corruption and mismanagement.

Speaking during an interview with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) on Friday, November 29, 2024, he explained that there is a need to restructure the administration of the policy to enhance efficiency and accountability.

Mr. Mahama assured Ghanaians that if he is elected, he will transfer the management of the Free SHS programme to the Ghana Education Service (GES).

According to him, this would bring the policy under a more structured and established institutional framework.

“We all need to sit and look at what the lapses are and see how we can cure those lapses going forward. We want to cut waste. This government is very good at duplicating and creating new offices and things just to create jobs for the boys.

“The GES has the mandate and authority to supervise the educational sector, so I don’t see why you would have a stand-alone Free SHS Secretariat. And I hear the rot and corruption that is going on there.

“I think it’s time to bring it back to GES and let GES superintend over it. Senior High School coordinators would still be senior high coordinators, but they would be supervised by GES.”