President John Dramani Mahama has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ending the Double-Track System in Ghana’s senior high schools (SHSs) by the end of 2027.
According to the President, by the close of 2027, no senior high school in the country should be operating the Double-Track System, with all students expected to attend school and vacate at the same time.
He said the move would increase contact hours between teachers and students and contribute to improved learning outcomes across the country.
President Mahama made the announcement during a Citizens’ Engagement in Wa, as part of the climax of his two-day Resetting Ghana Tour of the Upper West Region.
He disclosed that the government had secured a $300 million facility from the World Bank to support efforts to eliminate the Double-Track System and improve infrastructure in senior high schools.
The President said the funding would help address some of the infrastructure challenges that had necessitated the introduction of the Double-Track System in the first place.
Dedicated funding for SHSs
Touching on challenges facing the education sector, President Mahama said his administration inherited a situation where the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme had been introduced without a dedicated and sustainable funding source.
He explained that, as a result, schools had to rely on delayed budgetary releases, which often created difficulties for school authorities.
“Headmasters constantly complained about inadequate funding and shortages of food,” the President said.
He noted that some schools were forced to feed students with whatever food items were available because supplies were not delivered regularly.
President Mahama said his administration had since introduced dedicated funding for senior high schools as well as specific financing for student feeding programmes.
“Today, we have established dedicated funding for Senior High Schools. We have also created dedicated financing for student feeding, and complaints from headmasters have reduced considerably,” he said.
WASSCE results
The President also addressed concerns surrounding the recently released West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, which have generated considerable public discussion.
He said he would not engage in a debate over the statistics, stressing that the results were available for public examination.
President Mahama, however, expressed satisfaction that the latest results reflected the genuine performance of students.
He attributed the development partly to improved examination invigilation and a reduction in organised examination malpractice.
“The era when students felt entitled to leaked answers and attacked teachers who enforced discipline must remain behind us,” he said.
He stressed the need for students to succeed through hard work and for teachers to uphold professional integrity in the discharge of their responsibilities.
“Our children must succeed because they have learned, and our teachers must teach with integrity,” President Mahama added.
The President said the government remained committed to strengthening the education sector and creating an environment that would enable students and teachers to achieve better outcomes.
