The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Education (FOHSSE) has started a Public Lecture series to encourage intellectual discourse by bringing together experts from diverse academic backgrounds to discuss topics in areas relevant to emerging trends in education.
The lecture series, which will be held quarterly, also aims to build the capacity of faculty members in interdisciplinary areas through brainstorming sessions with experts in academia to espouse the critical role of education in the Ghana’s development aspirations.
The maiden lecture was on the theme: “ What the Double Track System Taught Ghana About Large Scale Learning."
Dr Kwabena Bempah Tandoh
Delivering the maiden lecture, a respected educationist and former Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Kwabena Bempah Tandoh, said the Free Senior High School (SHS) had transformed the educational landscape in Ghana, enabling students from diverse backgrounds to pursue secondary education without financial barriers.
"Between 2016/2017 and 2022/2023, BECE registrations surged by 28.38 per cent, leading to an 83 per cent increase in SHS enrolment. Additionally, the number of students unable to take up Senior High School admissions has decreased from over 100,000 annually to less than 10,000," he added.
He added that the policy improved gender parity in high schools.
"The percentage of girls in second-cycle schools has increased from 35 per cent in 2016 to 53.77 per cent in 2024 based on the percentage of girls who registered for the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE)," said Dr. Tandoh, who is also the founder of the Dr K.B. Tandoh Outreach, a non-profit organisation.
According to him, a key innovation in expanding access to secondary education was the double track system.
"As the chief technical officer overseeing its conceptualisation, design, development, training and implementation, I was privileged to witness its impact on hundreds of thousands of students," he explained.
Some participants in the event
He pointed out that the innovative approach involved adjusting the school year, adopting a semester system and recruiting an additional 8,872 teachers in 2018.
"By optimising existing infrastructure and redesigning timetables for approximately 400 second-cycle schools, the double track system enabled some 181,993 students to gain access to secondary education in its first year. Without this innovative solution, over 1.27 million children would have been deprived of secondary education between 2018 and now. This underscores our unwavering commitment to ensuring that no child is left behind," he continued.
He discounted claims that the double-track policy had compromised quality education. He explained: " the performance of Free SHS students in the WASSCE has been exceptional. Since 2020, no core subject has recorded a pass rate below 50 per cent, with many subjects exceeding 60 per cent. In 2020, Ghana’s Free SHS students accounted for 88 per cent of the 465 West African students who achieved A1s in all eight subjects. These achievements demonstrate that our interventions have not only expanded access but also considerably improved the quality of education."
Dr. Eric Mensah
The Dean of FOHSSE, Dr. Eric Mensah, in a welcome address, expressed gratitude to Dr. Tandoh for the insightful talk on the double track system.
He said the Faculty would continue to hold such public lectures to contribute to national development and urged staff and students to patronize the lectures.