NDC’s double abolition means cancellation of free SHS, former GES boss warns

Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), has warned that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) proposal to abolish the double-track system within 100 days will effectively destroy the Free Senior High School could cancel. SHS) policy.
The double-track system, introduced to maximize the use of school infrastructure, allows 4,500 students to enroll in a school with 3,000 places available.

Abolishing it would deprive 1.8 million students of access to free SHS/TVET for four years.

Insights

Prof. Opoku-Amankwa emphasizes that the two-track system is the core of the Free SHS policy. Any attempt to tinker with it without proper planning would collapse the entire policy.

He explained that any attempt to abolish the two-track calendar would deny an estimated 1,800,000 students access to free secondary education and technical vocational education and training (FSHS/TVET).

He explained that the double-track schools now operate a transition calendar, which allows schools to make maximum use of their available spaces.

According to him, a transition calendar ensures that schools can function without dividing a year group in two or following a year group twice: no green or gold tracks.

However, to maximize the use of their infrastructure, two of the three groups will be in school at any time.

Under the previous trimester system, contact hours between teacher and student in an academic year were 1,080 hours, and 3,240 hours for the three years.

He added: “Under the dual track/transitional calendar and semester system, the contact hours between teacher and student in an academic year are 1,134 hours and 3,402 hours for the three years.”

This means that students under the double-track/transitional calendar do 162 hours more than in the old system.

This is reflected in their excellent performance in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) since 2020.

The stakes are high

With an 83% transition rate from junior high to senior high, the elimination of double track could undermine efforts to achieve 100% transition.

Opinion

“The proposal by former President Mahama and the NDC to abolish double track within 100 days is a subtle way of saying that the NDC will scrap free secondary education,” warns Prof. Opoku-Amankwa.

The NPP’s counterplan

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) pledges to protect and strengthen the Free SHS policy, phasing out the double track through the use of improved infrastructure.

He noted that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and other initiatives, has completed over 4,000 projects, including dormitories, classrooms and many other facilities, in secondary schools since September 2024 . and technical school campuses.

Moreover, to maintain the quality of teaching and learning, the government has employed more than 50,000 teaching and non-teaching staff to augment the existing SHS/TVET staff and provide teaching and learning materials to students.

With the continued increase in patronage within the FSHS/TVET, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the NPP say they will protect and strengthen the free secondary education policy, with a strong emphasis on TVET and STEM, by continuing to fully fund the policy.

Furthermore, NPP presidential candidate, Dr. Bawumia, says he will use the improved infrastructure to phase out double track and harmonize the academic calendar in secondary schools.

However, the former president’s proposal to abolish double track within a hundred days is a subtle way of saying that NDC will scrap free secondary education.

– BY Daniel Bampoe