The Legal Director of the United Party (UP), Andrew Appiah-Danquah, has criticised the Minority in Parliament for condemning the government’s three-year duration set to phase-out the double track system in Ghana’s education system.
Speaking on the BigIssue segment on the NewDay morning show on Monday, November 17, 2025, Appiah-Danquah noted that the government, since the implementation of the Free SHS, has been consistent with its stance during its opposition days, adding that the current opposition do not have the locus to criticise the deadline projection to phase out the policy.
“This Minority, without even going into the merit of it, do not even have any moral credibility to be criticising,” he stated.
The UP’s Director of Legal Affairs explained further that the Minority “must take their time because when they decided to do the Free SHS, on the question of whether or not, it was good to fund education at the secondary level, we were all united on the acceptance of the benefits of funding Free SHS. Where there were disagreements was in the implementation.”
“In 2017, taking into consideration the physical space, whether or not it was prudent for government to have implemented the Free SHS as quickly as they did. The opposition then was that, as much as they do not disagree with the Free SHS itself, clearly there was the lack of planning on how government implemented same, taking into consideration the physical space.”
The legal practitioner further explained that the government has not deviated from its position on the double track system since its opposition days. “I don’t think that they saying they’ll end double track in three years time is any departure from what their position has always been.”
The Minority’s criticism followed the government’s announcement that it plans to end the double-track system in all senior high schools by 2027, as part of reforms aimed at expanding access and improving quality in Ghana’s secondary education sector.
Presenting the 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament on Thursday, November 13, 2025, Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, said the phase-out would begin in 2026 with targeted investments in infrastructure, staffing, and teaching resources to restore full-time schooling for all students.
Dr Forson told Parliament that the government would complete 30 abandoned E-Block projects and upgrade 40 existing senior high schools nationwide to create additional classroom space and reduce overcrowding, the main factor behind the double-track system.
“From 2026, government will implement an education expansion plan to phase out the double-track system and ensure every Ghanaian child attends school full-time,” he said.
He added that the Ministry of Education would work with the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the Ghana Secondary Learning Improvement Programme (GSLIP) to deliver the projects on schedule.
Dr Forson said teacher recruitment, classroom furniture, science laboratories, and ICT facilities would be prioritised to improve the quality of teaching and learning outcomes nationwide.
The double-track system, introduced in 2018 to manage increased enrollment under the Free Senior High School policy, divided students into alternating cohorts due to limited infrastructure. While it expanded access, it faced criticism for disrupting academic continuity and overburdening teachers.
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