Ghana would have been practising quadruple-track but for Mahama’s E-blocks – Sammy Gyamfi

Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communication Officer of the NDC says but for the E-blocks built by the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama administration, there would have been a “quadruple” track system in the Senior High Schools (SHS) with the introduction of the Free SHS policy.

Gyamfi told Paul Adom-Otchere Thursday on Good Evening Ghana: “There are two ways that you deal with access. First through affordability, and secondly providing infrastructure, because if you make secondary school free and you see [an] astronomical increase in enrolment, without commensurate expansion in the educational infrastructure where will the children sit and school?

He then added: "You may have to do a quadruple track. But for Mahama E-blocks, we would have been practising the quadruple track by now.”

He then explained on Good Evening Ghana on Thursday that the Mahama administration from 2012 to 2017 was able to commence 123 SHS projects out of which 46 were completed, furnished and handed over to the Akufo-Addo administration in December 2016 after the NDC lost the elections.

“President Akufo-Addo cannot boast of one secondary school that he has constructed for this country to provide access to secondary education for the people of this country…,” Sammy Gyamfi further told Paul Adom-Otchere on Good Evening Ghana.

Gyamfi indicated that the incumbent NPP's claims that outgoing NDC administration handed over 29 completed school blocks instead cannot be true.

“There is ample evidence to show that we handed over to them 46 SHS but even if you use the figure of 29, President Akufo-Addo doesn’t have one to his name despite promising to build 350 SHS from scratch in 18 months,” Sammy Gyamfi indicated.

He continued: “With regards to educational infrastructure from the basic level, to the secondary level, whereas President Mahama can boast of over 3,500 classroom blocks at basic, JHS, SHS levels, President Akufo-Addo is only talking about 1,095 classroom blocks that he has completed, 779 of which were bequeathed to him by the Mahama administration.”

Gyamfi said also that there were so many secondary schools which were started under the John Dramani Mahama administration “which are full to capacity”.

The issue of educational infrastructure has become salient because both the NPP and NDC claim they have done better in the education sector, hence, they are seeking power to continue the good works they have started.