The Vice President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia has likened the Double Track System to first and Second Church Service which allows Church members as many as possible to have equal access to listen to the Word of God.

According to him, the Double Track System under the Free Senior High School Policy is a stopgap innovation to provide access to 69% of students who would have ordinarily been denied access to education

“In the first three years of this policy, we have seen enrollment in Ghana for Free SHS Education increased by 69%, that is a very high level of increase, and many of these children, if it had not been for Free SHS Education, would have been sited at home and we would have had to contend with the problem later on, in life of these children.

“So, let’s bring an innovation, let’s everybody go, and that is the Double track. It’s like when you have a church and the Church Membership grows so high, now all of them cannot go into the Church for one service so you say Okay! I will do the first service some of you will come, the second Service some of you will, and that is the Double-track system that we are operating right now”

The Vice President, however, hastened to add that, the government is expanding infrastructure in all Senior High Schools in the country and will soon end the Double-track system.

“In fact, we are building the infrastructure in Schools and in a few years the Double Track System will be history but it is important that we start this now because of this 69% if we hadn’t started and brought the Double Track system many would have been sited home but whose child should stay home and whose child should go to school. In a not too distant future we will build a big enough Church that where everybody will come and we’ll have the first service but in the meantime, you cannot say some people should not hear the word of God. We want everybody to hear the word of God just as we want everybody to attend school”.

Dr Bawumia said this when speaking at a durbar of Chiefs and People of Akuapem- Abiriw on the celebration of Odwira Festival on Saturday, January 4, 2020.

The introduction of the Double Track System has been criticized by the Opposition Party and section of Civil Society Organizations accusing Government of rushing the implementation of the Policy for populist purpose instead of expanding infrastructure first.

However, another logic put forth by the Vice President to discredit this claim is the fact that Former President John Agyekum Kufuor introduced National Health Insurance Scheme without first expanding health infrastructure but the Policy is now the backbone of free access to Healthcare by the citizenry in the Country.

Dr Bawumia maintained Free SHS policy is so critical to the future of this country because the key to the development of any nation is the education of its people.

“If you have an educated population, the evidence shows from economic history that Countries that have educated their people have risen up to the development ladder and this is why Nana Akufo Addo was very key on the introduction of the Free SHS education”

Adding, “So even though we haven’t dealt with all the challenges, we are dealing with them, we had to introduce the Double Track system as a way of dealing with this temporary increase in student”.

The Chief of Akuapem -Abiriw,Nana Kwame Henaku I, commended Government for implementing Free SHS policy, and given Okere a district status which is stimulating development in the area.