He said the policy should ultimately provide universal access to secondary education, removing qualification barriers that prevent some students from progressing from JHS to SHS.

The call comes amid growing concerns over the transition of students from basic to second-cycle education following the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

About 55,000 candidates who sat the examination did not qualify for automatic placement into senior high and senior high technical schools.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Monday, September 7, Mr Asare said Ghana should be moving towards a system where every student who completes JHS can transition into secondary education.

According to him, countries that have introduced free secondary education have moved towards universal secondary education as a minimum level of human capital development.

He said Ghana’s Free SHS policy should similarly be structured to ensure that completing JHS leads directly to secondary education, rather than relying on placement criteria that exclude some candidates.

Mr Asare said the issue should form part of broader discussions on strengthening the impact of the Free SHS policy.

“We should have now positioned our secondary education system to a universal secondary education system where between Junior High School Three and Senior High School One, it’s a seamless transition without qualification that ends up disqualifying some.”