The president, Nana Akufo-Addo has given his full backing to the controversial double track education system to be implemented in the Senior High School for the 2018-19 academic year.

The president insists that is the surest way of providing SHS education to students who but for Free SHS would have dropped out of school and at the same time resolve the congestion that came with the implementation of the policy in 2017.

Addressing chiefs and people in the Upper West regional capital Wa, the president said the double track policy will reduce class sizes and improve quality education in the coming year.

The government has come under a barrage of criticisms for its decision to implement the policy.

The double Track System to be executed in September is similar to the semester system in the universities.

The student population will be divided into tracks. The first track will be in school for specific days in a semester and will go on vacation. While on vacation, the second track will come to school for the same number of days. The first batch will then return for the second semester.  

The new system will ultimately increase in enrolment as well as contact hours while still reducing class sizes.

While some teachers say they were not consulted before the decision was taken, other civil society groups and political parties accuse the government of rushing through with the policy.

National Association for Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) president Angel Karbonu told Joy News teachers have not been consulted.

Franklin Cudjoe

They do not how the government intends to execute the double track policy.

Policy think tank IMANI Africa has also berated the government for implementing the policy. Its president Franklin Cudjoe said rather than experimenting with the new double track policy, government could easily have made use of the many private schools in the country.

But the Institute for Education Studies is in full support of the double track policy.

“IFEST believes that the potential increase in SHS enrolments in September 2018 resulting from the high number of 2018 BECE candidates requires the government to implement innovative measures that ensure that no qualified BECE candidate is denied access to secondary education on the basis of infrastructure deficits,” the institute said in a statement.

According to the Institute, the double-tracking system reduces teacher stress and decreases the likelihood of students becoming over-burdened.

“Besides, the double-tracking system has the propensity of making optimal use of existing infrastructure,” IFEST Founder Dr Prince Armah said.

Dr Prince Armah

The president said the problem of quality will be addressed in the next couple of years with the double track system.

“The second is this multi-track double intake organization that we are going to make from the beginning of this academic year to be able to deal with the large student population.

That is going to allow us to do two or three things. First of all, create room for all the students. Secondly, downsize class sizes and that is the key to the quality. We will have smaller classes with teachers that are capable of teaching them,” the president said

He called for support from Ghanaians to make the policy a success.

Click the link for infographics on double track system.