Accra, Ghana, Government says its double track system will be rolled out in only a selected number of public senior high schools across Ghana.
Of the 968 public senior high schools, the Education Minister Mathew Opoku Prempeh said only 400 have been earmarked for the semester-based system that will begin from the next academic year in September.
“It is not every school that will have the double track, but every school will have the semester system,” Dr. Opoku Prempeh revealed Tuesday when he took his turn at the meet-the-press series to address issues regarding the much criticised system.
The government has last month announced it will from the next academic year begin the system that will see public SHSs operate a semester system, which will have two streams of teachers and students.
Government has explained the double track system will create room to accommodate increased enrolment expected in the 2018/2019 academic year under the Free SHS system as well as reduce class sizes among others.
A total of 472,000 new students, representing an increase of some 31%, are to be admitted into the various Senior High Schools across the country.
Despite criticism of the system by various stakeholders, the government said it is unfazed and will go ahead with its implementation.
On the criteria for the selection of the schools to participate in the system, Dr. Opoku Prempeh explained the schools were chosen because they are the most sought after by students per statistics from the West African Examination Council.
He said the double track system, which is a temporary measure by the government, will only affect first year SHS students and that the system will be phased out when every qualified student is able to be in school.
On the issue of criticisms against the system, he said the Ministry did a broad consultation with stakeholders across the country before adopting the system
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