Free SHS: Double track most unfortunate policy in our educational system – UG lecturer
University of Ghana lecturer, Dr. Sampson Obed Appiah
• Dr. Obed Appiah has called on government to address challenges under FreeREE SHS
Read full article• He described the Free SHS as the most unfortunate policy in our educational system
• He made this known in an interview on TV XYZ
A University of Ghana lecturer, Dr. Sampson Obed Appiah, has described the double-track system under the Free Senior High School policy initiated by the Akufo-Addo government as the “most unfortunate policy” in the history of the country's educational system.
The double-track system which has witnessed scores of students in SHS running a shift system was introduced to accommodate the increased number of students admitted in schools following the introduction of the Free SHS policy.
Despite efforts by the government to solve the infrastructural deficit in second-cycle institutions across the country, most campuses still lack basic facilities like classrooms, dormitories and dining halls to accommodate all students.
Speaking on Tonton Sansan on TV XYZ, Dr. Obed Appiah charged policymakers and government to as a matter of urgency address the challenges under the Free SHS. He noted that there has been a decline in the quality of education in Senior High Schools.
“Because we could not plan ahead of the Free SHS, there has been an infrastructural gap which is adversely affecting the quality of education.
"The double-track has been the most unfortunate policy in our educational system because of the loss of contact hours. Parents would have to spend more on extra classes given room for capitalism which favours the rich to the detriment of the poor and thereby gradually creating a class system in the education sector to allow the rich to be able to get their children to get quality education,” he said.
Dr Obed Appiah added that most parents have been financially overburdened under the policy as they are left with no option other than to pay monies to teachers as extra classes fees to assist their wards while at home.
“I attended Mawuli School for 3 years but the only time I did extra classes was when I was in my final year, but today it is not like that. Someone told me at Peki that he is paying GH¢200 cedis for every core subject for his ward to be taught at home.”
He added: “Something needs to be done because when the pupils do not get the quality education, they will struggle in the tertiary level."
