Double-track has encouraged truancy, we’ll abolish it – Ablakwa

A former Deputy Education Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says the next National Democratic Congress (NDC) government will not discard Free SHS but will rather end the Double Track System.

The New Patriotic Party(NPP) led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo introduced the Free Senior High School(SHS) system to allow for Ghanaian children of Senior High School going age to have access to free education.

However, to control the numbers and also to allow for quality Education provided at the Senior High School level, the government introduced the Double-track system that also welcomed the semester system at the high school level.

But speaking in a yet-to-be-aired interview with Fiifi Banson, Okudzeto Ablakwa who was a Deputy Education Minister under the John Dramani Mahama administration said the next NDC government will not cancel Free SHS as it’s been peddled by the NDC.

According to him, they will rather cancel the double track system because it impedes quality education.

"We will not cancel Free SHS. What we will cancel is double track. We think that it’s horrible, it’s leading to truancy, it’s affecting contact hours, the time on task is being affected so as for the double track system, our flagbearer has said it will be abolished.”