60% of Senior High Schools taken off double track system - Education Minister

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, has disclosed that 60 percent of Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the country have been taken off the double track system and are running on single track.

He said the Ministry would ensure that all SHSs would return to the single-track system despite increased enrollment due to the Free SHS programme.

The Minister said this at the launch of this year’s STEMNNOVATION competition held at the Accra Technical Training Centre in Accra.

The competition is a national Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) based project competition for SHS and TVET students to create innovative projects which could solve societal problems.

This year’s event would have projects created along four areas, namely environmental sustainability, food sovereignty, sustainable energy and digital technologies.

Dr Adutwum said creativity and innovations were at the forefront of the government’s agenda for education in the country, hence the rollout of the competition.

He said the government was committed to training students as creators and innovators to be agents, leading the country’s transformation agenda.

“We cannot memorise our way out of poverty, but we can innovate our way out of poverty. This is the reason the government is committed to transforming our education from learning by rote to one that creates emphasis on creativity and innovation,” he added.

The Minister said the government was also transforming educational infrastructure in the areas of school buildings and classrooms, saying, “21st-century education must take place in 21st-century buildings.”

He appealed to industry and corporate organisations to partner with the Ministry to support the students’ STEM innovations.

This year’s STEMNNOVATION competition is the third in a row since it was launched in 2022.

The first edition of the competition was won by Kumasi Academy in the Ashanti Region, whereas the second was won by Ahafoman Senior High School.