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When 14-year-old Monica Edem was sent home from Alogboshi 2 Basic School over unpaid exam fees last year, she ran desperately through the crowded streets of Lapaz, Accra, looking for her mother.
Lapaz, one of Accra’s busiest and most densely populated neighbourhoods, is located along the N1 Highway—part of Ghana’s leading national road network. Monica’s destination was her mother’s hawking spot, where she sells “pure water” and fizzy drinks in traffic. The area is known for its chaotic traffic, sprawling informal markets, and dense commercial activity.
By day, the area teems with vendors hawking everything from electronics to sachet water. Tro-tros (minibuses) and taxis clog the roads, honking and jostling for space amid pedestrians. For many low-income earners, especially women, Lapaz is a place for survival.
Monica needed GHC 50 (barely $5), which stood between her and her end-of-term Junior High School examinations. Her mother wasn’t there. By the time Monica returned, she had missed her first paper.
“I had to borrow one or two things to raise the money so she could write the rest of her exams the next day,” Monica’s mother recalled in her living room. “These demands for fees leave me feeling helpless.”
Despite Ghana’s Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) policy, students continue to face financial barriers that threaten their access to learning and evaluation.
Monica’s case is not unique.
In Ghana, despite the promise of free primary education, parents often bear the burden of additional costs such as uniforms, textbooks, PTA dues, and examination fees. These hidden costs have increased dropout rates and made education less accessible to many children.
At Rangoon JHS, a twelve-year-old student, who asked not to be named, sprinted back into school after running home to fetch GHC 50 for her exam fees. “Madam, our exams have started; I cannot talk right now,” she told this reporter.
“My mother said I should tell my teacher she will bring my exam fees after work, but my teacher said I should go home,” she added later. “So I went to get the money.”
The cases go on and on. Parents across Ghana are asked to pay various levies—examination fees, PTA dues, and maintenance fees—that violate the FCUBE policy.
Students being barred from examinations due to unpaid fees is a significant concern across Ghana and the broader African continent. Despite policies like Ghana’s Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), many students still face financial barriers that hinder their educational progress.
What FCUBE Was Meant to Achieve
In 1996, FCUBE aimed to provide every child of school-going age with access to quality basic education by 2005. It promised tuition-free public education while focusing on improving teaching quality, efficient management, and inclusive access.
However, nearly three decades later, the reality for many Ghanaian children is vastly different.
The Reality Behind “Free” Education
In Ghana, the FCUBE policy was introduced to eliminate fees in basic education. However, in practice, students are often required to pay for examinations. For instance, at schools like Alogboshie Basic School, La Wireless Cluster of Schools, and Rangoon JHS in Accra, over 30 students were prevented from taking their end-of-term exams in April 2025 due to unpaid fees of GHC50 each.
Veronica Ashittey, a LEKMA Northern Cluster of Schools teacher, acknowledged the situation’s complexity.
“No teacher is happy sending a child home for fees,” she said. “But we are left with no choice when the government delays in providing examination papers or funding. What are we supposed to do—write questions on the board again like it’s 1990?”
She added, “The students suffer most. It’s not fair, but the system pushes schools and teachers to do this just to survive. We shouldn’t be punishing children for systemic failures.”
James Ocloo Akorli, a parent of four in public schools, complained that PTA executives often act unilaterally. “The PTA Secretary, Vice, and Treasurer convene their meetings and decide on charges. They can price the levy at GHC50 or GHC100. If you don’t attend PTA meetings, they charge you GHC20 extra.”
The PTA’s Defence
Irene Sam, Public Relations Officer of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Council, offered a defence.
“As far as FCUBE is concerned, parents don’t pay fees. What parents pay are PTA dues to support government efforts. Let me make this clear: examination fees are not official fees. Because of delays in government funds, PTAs step in to support the cost of printing exam papers,” she said.
Sam emphasised that children should never be sent home for unpaid dues. “It is very, very wrong. We always frown on that. The contract is with the parents, not the students,” she added.
Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, called the widespread imposition of exam fees unconstitutional.
“Every FCUBE policy stipulates that there shall be no form of fee in the school system. So, if the PTA executive is telling you that the students don’t pay fees, but they only pay exam fees, what does she mean? Examination fees are fees. So if you deny a child an exam due to unpaid fees, you’re denying their constitutional right to education,” Asare explained.
He continued: “This has been happening in every basic school because there is no budget line for terminal assessment. The schools are improvising, but in doing so, they are breaking the law.”
Former Government Spokesperson: Current Administration Must Act
Kwasi Kwarteng, former government spokesperson on education under the Akufo-Addo administration, said, “Education should be seen as an investment, not an expenditure. Until the government shifts that mindset, funds will always be delayed.”
Kwarteng argued that during their tenure, funds for exams were part of the government’s recurring expenditures.
“We made sure no student had to pay before writing exams. If that’s happening now, it means the government has reneged on its responsibilities,” Kwarteng said. He urged President Mahama to intervene.
However, Kofi Asare disagrees that this is a present government problem.
“This exam fee payment started not in this administration. It’s been happening for decades. It happened in all the previous administrations. All of them ignored the problem.”
A Call for Policy Reform
According to Asare, the situation persists partly because Ghana lacks a free basic education policy to operationalise the FCUBE mandate.
“We (Ghana) declared FCUBE two decades ago, but still have no formal policy guiding its implementation. That’s why conventions like charging for exams persist,” he said.
He suggested an urgent need for a dedicated budget line for end-of-term assessments. “It will be expensive, but not more expensive than the ignorance it perpetuates.”
Legislative Oversight: Parliament Takes Note
Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, MP for Akatsi North and a member of the Education Committee in Parliament, acknowledged the issue and promised that the government would act.
“We are aware of the violations and have taken steps to ensure school authorities abide strictly by the FCUBE policy,” he stated.
Sam from the PTA noted that monies collected from parents often fill the funding gaps left by government delays. “If the government provides the school building, we can provide furniture. The needs are many. We support through digital initiatives and infrastructure improvement.”
However, she reiterated, “We frown strongly on sending children home. That child is not the contract holder; the parent is.”
The toll on children like Monica is more than academic. It is emotional, psychological, and social. Being denied the right to education due to poverty contradicts the very essence of the FCUBE policy.
With increasing complaints across rural and urban communities, policy think tanks like Eduwatch Ghana warn that failing to address this could distort the academic calendar and worsen inequality.
A National Emergency in Disguise
As parents borrow money to pay fees that should not exist, and children run through traffic to chase their right to education, Ghana stands at a crossroads. The FCUBE policy remains a lofty ideal on paper, undermined daily by unauthorised levies, unregulated PTA charges, and government delays.
This challenge is not unique to Ghana. In Malawi, nearly 30,000 students, or 4.68% of registered candidates, risk missing national examinations in 2023 due to unpaid fees. In Uganda, unpredictable and high school fees have resulted in significant dropout rates, with 54% of adults citing school fees as a greater financial concern than medical bills.
What is needed now is clear: enforcement of existing constitutional protections, urgent policy reform, and reliable government funding. Without that, the promise of free basic education will remain a broken dream for many Ghanaian children.
