But many parents, watching their children sit idle for two months, are furious. They now believe they were sold a bill of goods by a government that made a promise it couldn’t keep. If sidelined children slip behind in their studies, some adults and students say, then free school comes at too high a cost.

“I’m not happy with this system,” Jennifer Newornu said as her sister sashayed out the door to class while she stayed in bed. “I stay home for too long. It’s actually boring. And not helpful.”

But the government is unwavering in its support of the new system, saying it delivers adequate education to more children. Before the program, 67 percent of children who attended elementary went on to secondary school. But since the launch of the new program, it climbed to 83 percent in 2018, according to the ministry of education.

In Ghana, elementary and middle school has been free and compulsory since 1995, with a 90 percent enrollment rate. But high school, though government-run, required tuition.

Government boarding schools cost about $289 per school year, day school about $120, according to government data. These are significant costs in a country where the average annual per capita income is about $1,900, according to the World Bank.

The program has only been implemented so far in high schools with high demand, but the government expects more to be added as enrollment increases. Sixty percent of public high schools in Ghana are boarding schools, which are included in the free tuition program.