Free SHS: Timetable for double-tracking system out next week – Adutwum

The Deputy Education Minister Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has said the timetable for the implementation of the “controversial” double tracking system (DTS) will be out by next week.

The double tracking system, expected to last for seven years is a stop-gap measure employed by the government to accommodate the surge in enrolment under the free SHS programme.

According to last year’s enrolment data, the government is projecting the 2018 figures to stand at 472,730 against available seats of 290, 737 leaving a gap of 181, 993.

The government has thus resolved to introduce the DTS which will be similar to the semester mode of learning applicable in the universities.

Speaking on Monday, July 30 on Starr Today, Dr Adutwum said the Education Ministry expects to complete and publicise the timetable for the implementation of the system which will then be fed into the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

“The critical thing that we are working on now is to make sure as soon as you do the timetable you are able to know how many teachers that you need and are to go to a particular school. That’s something that we are working on now. By the end of next week all timetables will be done,” he told Starr Today’s co-host Atiewin Mbillah-Lawson.

“Then it will be fed into the CSSPS (Computerised School Selection and Placement System) when the BECEs are released…the data there will feed into the timetable that we are developing. The CSSPS will be fed with the timetable information so that when parents get their printouts as to the placement, they will be able to know that my child is going to be on this track,” he added.