The educational sector took a crucial stage in the 2024 presidential elections in Ghana just like that of 2012, 2016 and 2020. The current president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama and the party he represented in the election, the NDC vilified all educational practices introduced in the pre-tertiary level of the educational sector by the immediate past administration headed by Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo and promised to put things in their right perspective when Ghanaians give them the nod to form a government. While in opposition, they pointed out some issues they said were affronts to quality education in Ghana especially at the pre-tertiary level of Ghana’s educational system. However, with the passage of time, the NDC government led by John Dramani Mahama has upheld most of the educational practices they vehemently opposed and promised to do away with when they win political power in the 2024 elections.
Below are a few of them.
1. The double track system.
The double track system was introduced in 2018 by the Akuffo Addo’s government as a temporary measure to accommodate the rising numbers in enrolment in public senior high schools as a result of the FREE SHS policy. By this policy, students are divided into groups namely green and gold and they alternate one another in the stay in school as well as the usage of school facilities. While many educational experts described the system as a product of thinking outside the box, the NDC saw it as a lazy man approach. Every leading member of the NDC attacked it. Former president Mahama on several platforms and more especially during the 2024 campaign launch in Tamale described the system as obnoxious and promised to abolish it within his first year in office. The national chairman of the NDC has on countless occasions postulated that the NDC government will cancel the double track system in its first ninety days in office. However, they have taken a U-turn on that promise by extending the double track to 2027 as announced by Mr. Haruna Iddrisu as education minister.
2. Free SHS Secretariat
In implementing the Free SHS policy, the Nana Addo administration set up the Free SHS secretariat with the main duty of ensuring the successful implementation of the policy. A national coordinator was appointed to man the secretariat at the national level while regional coordinators were also appointed for each region of Ghana. The NDC in their quest for power vilified the secretariat and saw it as a waste, ‘’job for the boys’’ and unnecessary because according to them, it duplicates the work of Ghana Education Service. President Mahama on Friday, November 29, 2024 in an interview with Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), stated that he will transfer the management of the Free SHS programme to the Ghana Education service should he win the 2024 elections and become the president of Ghana. Every NDC person talked the same words on any platform they got. Contrary to the promise of doing away with the Free SHS Secretariat, the government of John Mahama have wholly upheld the secretariat and appointed Madam Sena Okity-Duah as its national coordinator and coordinators for all the regions of Ghana.
3. Teacher Licensing and reforms
Another educational practice the NDC opposed and promised to cancel is the teacher licensing regime that took effect in 2018 but has been on the drawing board for a long time. The introduction of teacher licensing exams for teacher trainees that demands that they pass it before they can be employed in the public educational system was met with stiff opposition by the NDC. Not even the okaying of the conduct of the exams by PRINCOF (Principals of Colleges of Education) AND Teacher Unions more especially GNAT made the NDC soften its stand on the cancellation of the exams should they win power in 2024. The NDC finally upheld the exams after winning the election. They only changed its mode and form by drawing it closer after the school’s final internal examination as against their promise of cancelling it totally.
4. Centralization of food supply to Public Senior High Schools.
The NDC government has swallowed its vomit after promising to decentralize the supply of food by allowing senior high school heads to take charge of the supply. According to them, the supply of food to public senior high schools through the Buffer Stock system was not proper and was the reason for shortages of food as well as low quality of food served to the children. The minister of education, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu just some few weeks after resuming office announced that headmasters of public senior high schools were now given the opportunity to purchase food by themselves. However, to the dismay of all Ghanaians, the minister rescinded that decision through a letter dated 8thMay, 2025. In that letter, the minister ordered that out of eighteen (18) food items, only six (6) namely gari, peanuts, soya beans, millet, maize and beans will be provided by the heads of school and twelve (12) food items comprising rice, tom brown, hot chocolate, vegetable oil, palm oil, sardine, mackerel, tin tomatoes, margarine, sugar, milk and flour will be supplied by the ministry. More intriguing is the fact that the minister of education reverted the arrangement of the supply of food to the old system whereby Heads of schools purchased perishable food items and buffer stock supplied grains and other non-perishable food items.
5. No cut off point for BECE candidates entering Senior High School.
As part of measures to ensure inclusive education, the Nana Addo/Bawumia administration adopted the no cut off point for BECE candidates entering the senior high school. This arrangement was strongly opposed by the NDC and its cronies and promised to scrap that arrangement. Lo and behold, the NDC after assuming power has corroborated that arrangement. This is evidenced in the words of the national coordinator for Free SHS policy, Madam Sena Okity Duah when she responded affirmatively to a question posed to her on the continuance or otherwise of the no cut off point for BECE candidates entering Senior High School when she and Honorable Clement Apak, deputy minister of education interacted with the media on the guidelines of selection of schools by 2025 batch of BECE candidates.
Iddi Adam Osman
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