Nana Akufo-Addo backs double track system; chides critics

President Nana Akufo-Addo has slammed pessimists of the double track system, saying the system will improve quality of education in the country.
“I am confident that the end result of the system would lead to increase in quality of our Senior High School structure,” president Akufo-Addo said at the 70th Speech and Prize Giving Day Celebration of the Ghana National College in the central region on Saturday, July 28, 2018.

“The free Senior High School (SHS) policy has come to stay. Contrary to what the motivated propagandists and the professional naysayers would have you believe, free SHS is going to be a permanent feature of the educational architecture of our country”, the President added.

The double-track system is a process where students and staff are in school or vacation at the same time within an academic year.

But the double year-round system divides the entire student body and staff into two different tracks. So while one track is in school, the other is on vacation.

Critics of the double track system have said the government should focus on providing school infrastructure.
Responding, the president said “despite providing 96,403 mono desks, 33,171 pieces of dining hall furniture, 3,033 tables and chairs for teachers, 12,953 bunk beds, 4,335 student mattresses and 5,135 computer laboratory chairs to address the infrastructural deficit over the year, it has not been enough to address all issues of infrastructure”.

He added: “In the 2018/19 academic year which begins in September, 472,000 new students, that is an increase of 31 per cent that will be admitted into senior high schools.”

He further justified the double track system saying it will reduce class size, increase contact hours between students and teachers and increase the number of holidays.

He also said over 8,000 new teachers will be recruited to ensure the success of the system.