There is a new objection to the establishment of a free SHS policy, this time coming from owners of private senior high schools in the country.

According to the Conference of Heads of Private Second Cycle Schools (CHOPSS), the policy risks demolishing their business model, and thus could drive them out of business within the next few years.

Naphtali Kyei Baffour, who serves as Public Relations Officer for the Conference, told Citi Fm that the policy, whilst good, could drive them out of business, which is dangerous since private industry is a necessary vehicle for growth.

“It is an undeniable fact that the private sector is the engine of growth for development. Therefore any policy that seeks to collapse the activities of the private sector should be reconsidered.” Mr Baffour said.

“That is why we believe that inasmuch as the [Free SHS] policy is very good as it seeks the well-being and interests of students, parents, and Ghanaians as a whole, it is also imperative that as we sit, we look at factors that can help the private ones to be sustained,”

“With the introduction of free SHS, we are yet to hear from the government if they are going to the old system where the cutoff point will be pegged at [aggregate] 30 or they will still operate with the existing one like aggregate 40, 42.” he continued.

“If it still happens like that, then those who did not qualify for admission into public institutions that we relied on, now because it is free and they will still be qualified, it means that come two years, three years, four years, there will be no private school existing,”