Government has paid GHS1.8 billion for Free Senior High School. The 2026 budget allocation for Free Secondary Education is GHS4.2 billion.
Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson told Parliament during the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review on 23 July that GHS1.8 billion had been released to the Free Secondary Education Programme to ease the burden on families.
He also said GHS76 million had been paid as Capitation Grant for Free Compulsory Basic Education, covering the first and second terms of the 2025/2026 academic year. Ghana Education Service budget notes for 2026 list GHS157 million for the Capitation Grant in full, of which GHS76 million had been released by mid-year.
The GHS4.2 billion Free Secondary Education line sits in the 2026 Budget alongside a separate GHS9.9 billion GETFund allocation. Free SHS remains the government’s flagship secondary-school fee absorption programme.