IFEST Casts Doubt on 2027 Deadline to End Ghana’s Double-Track System

Ghana’s ambition to abolish the double-track system in Senior High Schools (SHSs) by 2027 is facing renewed scrutiny, with the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST) arguing that the timeline is unlikely to be achieved if it depends primarily on newly approved World Bank financing.

The Executive Director of IFEST, Dr. Peter Anti Partey, said the government’s commitment to eliminate the system is constrained by the practical realities of implementing large-scale infrastructure projects funded by development partners.

His remarks follow Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson’s announcement during the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review that Ghana had secured a US$300 million World Bank-backed Transformative Secondary Education for Access, Results and Relevance for Jobs (STARR-J) facility to accelerate the expansion of secondary school infrastructure.

The programme is expected to finance upgrades across the country’s second-cycle institutions, including the elevation of 30 Category C schools to Category B and 20 Category B schools to Category A, alongside investments in dormitories, classrooms, lecture halls and dining facilities to increase enrolment capacity.

However, Dr. Anti Partey argued that procurement procedures, contract awards and construction schedules associated with multilateral-funded projects make the government’s 2027 target difficult to achieve.

“The World Bank facility is a very good intervention at this time of our secondary education. The unfortunate news is that the government roadmap seems not to be realistic,” he said in an interview on JoyNews.

According to him, the project itself is structured to run until 2030, suggesting that the elimination of the double-track system is more likely to coincide with that timeline rather than the government’s stated deadline.

The comments highlight the growing debate over the pace of Ghana’s education reforms, particularly as authorities seek to expand infrastructure fast enough to accommodate rising enrolment under the Free Senior High School programme.

Introduced in 2018, the double-track system was designed as a temporary measure to absorb increased student numbers while new educational facilities were being developed. Although successive administrations have pledged to phase it out, education analysts have consistently maintained that the objective depends on sustained capital investment in classrooms, dormitories, laboratories and other supporting infrastructure.

Dr. Anti Partey urged the government to either adopt a more realistic implementation schedule or mobilise additional financing beyond the World Bank facility if it intends to meet its 2027 commitment, warning that overly ambitious timelines could undermine public confidence in ongoing education sector reforms.