Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum
A Deputy Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum, says the proposal by former President John Dramani Mahama and the opposition National Democratic Congress to end the double-track system involved in the implementation of the Free Senior High School within one year will collapse the programme.
“The double-track system created more space in our schools, and led to about 70 per cent increase in enrolment in some schools. This, together with the removal of the cut-off point for admissions, paved the way for many students, who hitherto would never have had the benefit of secondary education, to be in our secondary schools,” Dr Osei Adutwum told the Daily Statesman in an exclusive interview last week.
Going by the NDC’s proposal, the renowned educationist fears it could lead to a return of the cut-off point to regulate and restrict admissions into the schools, as it used to be the case before Free SHS was introduced by the Akufo-Addo government.
“The Free SHS programme, with the double-track system, led to the removal of the cut-off point, which was very insensitive to rural students. Parents and wards in the rural areas should therefore be very much concerned about the NDC’s proposals.
“We are in a critical period in our national life, and all concerned must be careful not to allow the NDC to come back to reverse the gains we are making in the education of our future leaders,” the Deputy Education Minister warned.
Later speaking on Asaase Radio, Dr Osei Adutwum stated: “If you end double-track prematurely without the plan that has been put in place by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to progressively end it, then you are telling the children of Aduaben that there is no place for them in the Free SHS system.
“Yes, if you end it prematurely, Free SHS as we know it will not survive, especially when you talk about bringing online private schools to make up and to pick up those who cannot go to the public schools.”
Private schools
The presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress, John Mahama, had said he would, within one year in office, eliminate the double-track system by, among other things, including private schools in the Free SHS programme.
But Dr Adutwum says he does not think the proposal to add private schools to the Free SHS programme has been thought through properly.
He therefore wants Mr Mahama and the NDC to tell Ghanaians what type of private schools they will include in the Free SHS programme.
“If that is your goal, what type of private schools are we talking about? Can we force parents to send their children to private schools? How are you going to send students to the private schools and are you going to bring the cut-off?” he wondered.
NPP’s best proposal
The Deputy Minister of Education said the NPP government wants to create a country where there is a level playing field, where the poor and the rich come together and go to school together.
“We want to create a country where we see our common humanity as the most important thing, and not campaign promises geared towards getting some people to vote for us and therefore want to throw best practices and time-tested research about education to the dogs,” Dr Osei Adutwum said.
He believes the NPP government has engineered the best approach for the successful and smooth implementation of the Free SHS programme.
“First of all, the double-track has ensured that no student is left out, and it has led to a semester system with increased contact hours. What matters most in teaching and learning is the contact hour and not the number of days students spend in school
“Again the President’s vision to provide more infrastructure for the gradual elimination of the double-track system is the best way to go, instead of the proposal by the NDC to end it abruptly, which will lead to the collapse of the programme,” the Deputy Minister told the Daily Statesman.
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