In pursuit of equity in upper secondary education: the curious case of Ghana's free senior high school policy

The Free Senior High School policy is Ghana's attempt at actualising the SDG 4 global consensus on free upper secondary education. Using grounded theory method, this research scrutinises the Free SHS 2018 policy and strategy document, alongside interviews with policymakers, to answer the question: How does the equity provision ensure fairness in upper secondary education, and what equity blind spots exist? Specifically, the study employed a purposive sampling technique, allowing for the deliberate selection of data sources that ensured the collection of focused, meaningful data aligned with the research goals. The findings underscore a disconnect between the policy's equity intentions and solutions. For example, the policy highlights that, intersectional differences-such as economic, school-based, gender, and regional factors-persist and drive inequitable access. However, these issues are inadequately addressed because the policy applies cookie-cutter-style economic solutions to all inequity concerns. Policymakers from within, and outside from government, hold diverse perspectives on the impact of this disconnect on sub-populations. The former underscores political and technical accountabilities where increasing numbers of enrolment are equated to equity, while the latter underscores differential policy effect sizes on sub-population to mean inequity. Curiously, the policy has improved access despite the equity conundrum, weak economy, lack of private-public initiatives, declining GDP allocation to education, no selective fee waivers, and neglect of secondary education expansion prerequisites. The paper advocates realigning the policy's equity dimension with its equity goals.