Gov’t to reduce double track schools

Government says it will soon reduce the number of Senior High Schools (SHSs) running the double track system.

According to the Ghana Education Service, work is ongoing to complete the many Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) projects to accommodate more students.

Government rolled out the double-track system in the 2018/19 academic year as a measure to address congestion in SHSs following the implementation of the Free SHS programme.

The system will run under the green and gold tracks and will see students in school for three months within any given period. The intervention, government expects, will help address the infrastructure challenges it is faced with.

Many fear government’s apparent rush in implementing the programme spells doom for the quality of education in the country.

The Education Ministry disagrees. It says the system is a temporary measure to address the challenges facing the Free SHS policy.

Public Relation Officer of the GES, Cassandra Twum-Ampofo told Joy News the inconveniences the system has created in terms of different academic calendars will soon improve.

She said government is working assiduously and “I am very hopeful that by the time we even get to September a lot of the schools would have fallen off the double track.

“Some of the schools have uncompleted projects and the ministry is working hard to complete them. So if these projects are completed and we are able to expand our space we will be able to go off the double track,” she said.

Private schools who wish to be enrolled on the system, she indicated, are to apply and will be selected once they meet specified criteria.

“When you apply, we have a team that will go and inspect your infrastructure and others…if government is absorbing we have to be sure that within five years we can use your facility.”

Source: Myjoyonline