Double-track SHS likely to be phased out in two years

The deputy minister of monitoring and evaluation estimates that the government will be able to phase out the double-track system for senior high schools in the next two years.

William Akwasi Sabi revealed this in an interview with Nana Yaa Mensah on the Asaase Breakfast Show in the run-up to the 2020 Government Town Hall and Results Fair, which will relaunch today, 18 August, in Accra.

Vice-President Mahamadu Bawumia will use the fair to outline some of the Akufo-Addo government’s principal achievements.

Enthusiastic uptake

The 2020 Results Fair will centre around a series of themed presentations by government departments and agencies. The first round of consultation on the public impact of government policies will concentrate on infrastructure, whether it is being built as the end users would like, and whether it is meeting the intended need.

Themes to come include the effects of policy on young Ghanaians.

The 2020 fair was first launched in February and scheduled to tour the regions. It was delayed by the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in March, when public gatherings ceased. The relaunched event will encompass the Ministry of Information’s town-hall meetings, which bring government closer to the public and consult on decision-making.

Sabi stressed that the government has no wish to make the double-track system a permanent feature of education in Ghana. It came about purely as a way of rationalising resources so that the system could a larger-than-usual first-year intake into senior high school in 2017.

“We started Free Senior High School (Free SHS) with some targets in mind, but I must admit in the first year we were overwhelmed with the number of students. That led to the introduction of the double-track system to make use of the space,” he said.

Infrastructure rolls out

Touching on infrastructure, Sabi said the government has built roughly 1,101 infrastructure structures across Ghana – consisting of various capacities of classroom block – in the past three and a half years.

“We realised that if you have built 1,101 classroom infrastructures [as the government has], with each of those holding at least 40 students, it means we have provided 41,000 spaces for teaching and learning for students.

“At the Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation, we have what we call the government results framework, which includes sitting down with the various implementers – ie, ministries and agencies. Knowing the goals and objectives of the programme, we [can tell if] it can be implemented.

“So, in September 2017, we began the implementation of this flagship Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme with an initial government fund of US$138 million.”

The Free SHS programme delivered a major promise of the New Patriotic Party in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 election campaigns. In March 2020 there were 404,856 children enrolled in state-run senior high schools and benefiting from free education.

Fred Dzakpata

* Asaase Radio 99.5 – tune in or log on to broadcasts online.
#asaaseradio
#TVOL