Free SHS has made finding housemaids difficult- Bawumia

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) says finding housemaids in Ghana has become difficult due to the Free Senior High School (SHS) program. He pointed out that many girls who previously worked as maids are now attending school, thanks to this government initiative.During a meeting with the Greater Accra Regional clergy on the first day of his regional tour, Dr. Bawumia emphasized the significant increase in enrollment resulting from the Free SHS program.He emphasised that Ghana’s enrolment numbers have doubled from 800,000 to over 1.6 million since the inception of the programme.“Those living in Accra, many of middle class cannot even find maids now, it’s a problem for them because the parents of the maids have come and taken them back to school” he said.Dr. Bawumia also noted that the Free SHS policy has helped reduce gender disparity in schools. He highlighted the increase in the number of girls attending SHS as a sign of positive change in the education sector.“There were a lot of people who wanted to go to Senior High School but could not afford it. Today what is very interesting about it is that more girls than boys have gone into Senior High School.“In 2016 for every 100 boys in Senior High School, you will have 68 girls, so there were no gender parity, but today after seven years of free senior high school education, for 100 boys you will now have 106 girls, and the girls have taken over the boys, that is what is happening now. Even for those living in Accra many of middle class cannot even find maids now, it’s a problem for them because the parents of the maids have come and taken them back to school, and this is going to be good for Ghana.“So if in seven years we can increase enrolment by 75%, can you imagine what will happen in 15 years, in 20 years, we are going to transform this country, more people are going to be educated, and as they move into the senior high school then the tertiary level and we have to prepare for that.“What is also good is that the performance of the students has improved. We were worried that as we increase access performance will decline, so when you look at the core six subjects the pass mark in 2016 was 41%, in 2023 it has increased to 64% for the core six subjects, so we are seeing a major improvement, but there is still more to be done,” he added.