The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has announced that the next NDC government will cancel the Double Track system currently in place in Senior High Schools across the country.
Addressing a campaign rally at Ahwerewam in the Ahafo Ano South East constituency, as part of his tour in the Ashanti region, he questioned the logic behind the current system, where students must stay home for three months as part of their vacation.
He added that the NDC plans to complete all community day school projects previously initiated to create more space in schools, ultimately ending the Double Track system.
On the second day of his campaign in the Ashanti region, Asiedu Nketia focused on rural farming communities in the Ahafo Ano East, Ahafo Ano North, and Ahafo Ano South West constituencies. The former Minister of Agriculture took the opportunity to discuss the party’s manifesto policies for the agricultural sector.
In addressing challenges in Senior High School education, he questioned why SHS students should spend more than two months on vacation. He explained that if the NPP had listened to expert advice before implementing the Free SHS policy, the current problems in the sector would not have arisen.
“Nananom, when the NPP came into power in 2017, we advised them to implement the Free SHS in phases. We, in the NDC, along with their own people like Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor and their former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, recommended that they first complete the community day SHS projects initiated by the NDC to create space for students before rolling out the policy fully. They ignored all the wise counsel. Here we are today, dealing with a Double Track system where students attend school for two months and stay home for over three months. This is unnecessary. When we come into power, we will cancel the Double Track system by completing the community day schools that have been abandoned by the NPP government,” Asiedu Nketia said.
He further stated that congestion in senior high schools, along with poor sleeping arrangements and food shortages, would improve when the NDC is elected into office.
“It doesn’t make sense for the NPP government to award contracts for every food item needed to feed students across the country,” he argued. He questioned, “Why should maize distribution contracts go to individuals, when the matron or bursar could easily go to the market and purchase these items for less? Why should contracts be awarded for perishable food items like vegetables if not for corruption and institutional capture? When we come into power, we will revert these practices. We will ensure that headmasters and teachers manage their own schools with government support,” he assured parents.
The NDC National Chairman emphasized that the next NDC government will cancel the Double Track system, which he described as a burden on parents and detrimental to education quality in Ghana. He explained the reasoning behind this commitment.
“Free SHS is not a bad policy, but poor implementation by the NPP government has worsened things for parents and students. When we come into power, we will restructure the policy to make it work effectively and reduce the stress it has caused parents. Our students must spend quality time in school, and to achieve this, we must build more schools and complete all the community senior high schools we started and left at advanced stages, which have since been abandoned by the current government,” he stated.
Asiedu Nketia used the occasion to introduce Akwasi Adusei, the party’s parliamentary candidate for the Ahafo Ano Constituency, and Mohammed Yakubu, the NDC parliamentary candidate for Ahafo Ano South East. After the introductions, he encouraged the party’s supporters to rally behind both candidates in their constituencies to unseat the NPP MPs in the area.
The Asiedu Nketia campaign team includes Ashanti Regional Chairman Nana Kwasi, Brogya Genfi, Isham Alhassan, and Mary Awusi. The NDC National Chairman is expected to end his three-day campaign tour of the Ashanti region today at around 8 p.m.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Isaac Justice Bediako
