Deputy Education Minister talks about opportunities with double intake system

A Deputy Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has stated that the double intake education system to be introduced under the Free SHS Programme has a pack of opportunities for Ghanaians.

“The double-track system is a pack of opportunities for our generation.”

Speaking on TV3’s New Day on Thursday, Dr Adutwum said Ghana lacks an educational system and that is why the assessment of how well students perform can only be known after 11 years.

According to him, over the years, the existence of a cut-off point for students who are admitted into secondary schools has left out many students who could not afford and, as a result, could not attain good grades because they did not attend private schools.

Therefore, the introduction of the Free SHS policy, he agued, is going to solve this problem by admitting more students without conditions.

The double intake system may last for 5 to 7 years, the Deputy Minister disclosed, which is expected to expand infrastructure to accommodate more students.

He said the double intake system will increase enrolment and decrease the pressure on limited facilities and will help students to be enrolled in their desired schools, adding that not all the schools will be part of the system and will drastically reduce congestion in the various schools.

Government, he announced, is going to introduce a national assessment measure to assess students in order to solve the problem of assessment after 11 years.

The Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe Constituency further mentioned that the government is not making a hasty decision in the implementation of this policy and hence the uniqueness of the basic and secondary school education can only be determined if one is an expert in the field of education.

He, however, claimed that the government does not lack funds for the policy even though private schools are excluded.

“I have not in anytime been told by my [finance] minister that we do not have money to finance.

“So far as they provide the funding so that we can run our school, I will say we have money for it,” he stated.