The Ministry of Education has taken a significant step toward expanding equitable access to secondary education by selecting 25 private Senior High Schools (SHSs) to participate in a pilot phase of the Free SHS policy for the 2025–2026 academic year.
The move marks a bold shift in Ghana’s educational landscape, aiming to ease the burden on overpopulated public institutions and offer parents and students more choices under the Free SHS umbrella.
Ahead of the conclusion of the 2025 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) school selection process, the Ghana Education Service (GES) released an official communication extending the deadline for selecting Senior High Schools.
The extension moves the original deadline to Wednesday, June 25, 2025, to accommodate the inclusion of the newly approved private SHSs in the school placement system.
This extension is intended to give candidates ample time to review and consider both public and now-eligible private schools during the decision-making process.
Regional breakdown
The 25 selected private schools are spread across all regions of Ghana, with some regions more prominently represented than others.
The Central Region tops the list with six selected institutions, followed closely by the Greater Accra Region with five.
The Ashanti and Eastern Regions each have three schools included in the pilot.
Other regions such as Western, Western North, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta, Bono East, and Bono have one school each selected for the programme.
Among the institutions listed are Ideal College, Legon; Action Senior High/Technical School; City Business Senior High; Delcam SHS; and St. Andrews SHS, all in Greater Accra.
In the Eastern Region, the selected schools include Modern Senior High School in Kpong, King David Community College, and Somanya Secondary Technical School.
From the Central Region, notable schools include St. Luke SHS, St. Richards SHS, Mount Hebron College, Obama College, Samtet Oxford Senior High School, and Sammo SHS (New Site).
Western North is represented by Otoo Memorial SHS, while the Northern Region features Business College International.
In the northernmost parts of the country, Regentropfen Senior High School in the Upper East Region and Ideal College in Wa represent the Upper West Region.
The Ashanti Region has three schools on the list: Cosmos Senior High School, Joy Standard College, and Elite College, Kumasi.
In the Volta Region, Wallahs Academy SHS has been selected, while Mist Senior High School in Yeji represents Bono East, and Ken Hammer Senior High Technical stands for Bono Region.
Easing pressure on public schools
The pilot inclusion of private SHSs into the Free SHS policy is being positioned as a practical solution to several challenges that have emerged since the inception of the flagship programme. Chief among them is overcrowding and over-subscription at some public schools, particularly in urban areas.
By incorporating private schools, the Ministry of Education hopes to absorb excess demand while ensuring quality is not compromised.
This new approach is also part of the Ministry’s broader agenda to create a more inclusive educational ecosystem where qualified private schools contribute to delivering free education.
It reflects the government’s growing emphasis on public-private partnerships in the delivery of essential social services.
Equity and choice
A statement from the Ministry described the move as a demonstration of its “commitment to expanding access to quality education and promoting equity in educational opportunities.”
Officials say the pilot programme will be closely monitored to inform possible nationwide expansion in subsequent academic years.
Parents, students, and education stakeholders have welcomed the announcement, describing it as a win-win for educational access and quality.
With the school selection window now extended, many families are expected to consider these newly included private schools as viable alternatives.
