Deputy Education Minister Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government’s double-track education system has the potential to leapfrog the country 20 years ahead in solving its inequality problem.

Quoting a recent study by the Brooklyn Institution Dr Adutwum said: “Brooklyn Institution did a study recently about 6 months ago and said Ghana has been a nation in the developing world that has used a leapfrogging strategy to achieve something that they would have waited for 20 years to achieve and that is the double-track [system].”

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, the Minister explained that the double-track system has given every Ghanaian child the opportunity to access Senior High Education no matter their aggregate in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

According to him unlike before where admission to schools was limited to cut-off points and the financial ability of parents and guardians, the new system allows all and sundry to attend school without any hurdles.

He said the situation had been the bane for most children from poor backgrounds who attended public basic schools, who, unlike their peers from well-to-do backgrounds could not afford private basic schools.

“You see in this country what has happened to the poor is an untold story. The poor children go to our public schools and don’t do well in the BECE and we tell them because you have aggregate 30 you don’t have access to our public schools. Then that poor kid’s parents will have to go and borrow and go to a private high school.

“What we don’t understand and have not looked at is the fact that the vast majority of the students who were not getting access to our public schools were from disadvantaged backgrounds, on two scores;

“The first score was that they could not even be placed because they had aggregate 30 and then those who were placed don’t have money to go, so we were hitting the poor twice. And then those who are from homes like mine would then pay to go to a private school at the basic level. When we are going to senior high school all of a sudden our top tier 54 schools they form 95% of that school’s population.”

Dr Adutwum stated that government was actively working at expanding and providing enough school facilities to contain the large number of students the Free SHS policy had managed to bring into the nation’s educational system.

“The president said: ‘double-track, I’m ramping up infrastructure'. Now, look at the infrastructure that has been developed. I’ll give you a few examples. Almost every single school that has a double track has infrastructure being developed right now or in some places, it has already been completed.

“In addition to that this president is building new schools. Go to Weija, a science school, big, with boarding facilities,” he said.

The Deputy Education Minister further stated that National Democratic Congress' flagbearer, John Mahama does not recognize the significance of the double-track system, thus warranting his utterances of reviewing and scrapping the double-track system within a year should he be voted into office.

According to the Minister, scrapping the double-track system in one year would only be possible if the cut-off point system is once again introduced.

This, he says will contribute immensely to the widening of the inequality gap once again.

“My fear is that he [Mahama] doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand that if he has actually been advised properly and has looked at the numbers, if you cancel double track within one year, you will have to introduce a cut off to reduce the numbers.

“All that we are saying former President Mahama is that, double-track is what you do in the short term to solve a major problem as you develop infrastructure, and this government has used the policy very well," he said.

He urged Ghanaians especially those from less privileged backgrounds to be wary of politicians who promise to review the double-track system.

“Anybody who talks about review and mentions double-track, Ghanaians should beware that if you happen to be poor you are in trouble the man is going to use another way of meeting that requirement and the poor will be disadvantaged big time.”