Haruna Iddrisu, the Education Minister, has said Ghana is spending too much money on Senior high School education (SHS).
According to Haruna Iddrisu, Ghana must redirect greater attention and resources towards foundational learning at the basic education level.
He argued that the excessive expenditure on secondary education was one of the major setbacks left by the Akufo-Addo administration in Ghana’s education system.
The Education Minister argued that education investment should begin with the foundation, with literacy and numeracy skills necessary for their subsequent academic development.
Haruna Iddrisu argued that ensuring that children develop strong literacy skills at an early stage significantly improves their prospects of succeeding later in their education.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, September 12, Haruna Iddrisu stated, “We are spending too much on secondary education. That is major damage the previous administration did to Ghana’s education system”.
“Everywhere in the world, focus, resources, and investment must be aligned to foundational learning, basic education,” he said.
“If a child gets literacy right, that child is more likely to succeed than in any other situation,” he added.
He noted that GH¢3.4 billion is being spent on the school feeding programme, linking the expenditure to the government’s broader investment in education under the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy.
In other news, the Minister of Education has announced a new target of 2029 for the government to end the double-track system in Ghana’s senior high schools (SHSs).
Speaking at the press briefing dubbed “Government Accountability Series”, Haruna Iddrisu disclosed that Cabinet has approved a STAR-J infrastructure programme valued at 331 million.
He revealed that the programme would cover 210 senior high schools, senior high technical schools and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions across the country.
The Education Minister disclosed that the programme includes the rehabilitation of 112 senior high schools and 38 TVET institutions, the upgrading of 30 Category C schools to Category B and the conversion of 20 Category B schools to Category A.
Haruna Iddrisu stated, “That’s why we’re introducing the STAR-J initiative. By 2029, we should be done with double track with this intervention. Some of the double-track schools, it’s just furniture.
They are not asking for money. Director General of GES is here. I hear about a hundred schools. If we give them adequate furniture, they are out of double track. So it’s to coordinate the things we are doing”.
The development contradicts what President John Dramani Mahama said the government had planned to end the double-track system in senior high schools (SHSs) by 2027.
Earlier, President John Dramani Mahama reiterated his government’s commitment to ending the SHS double-track system.
According to President John Mahama, a hundred SHS schools have already reverted to single-track.
Mahama highlighted that his government is firmly committed to abolishing the double-track system entirely through a focused two-year intervention, which will be implemented this year and next year, and will eventually end the double-track system.
Speaking at the 54th National Delegates Conference of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in Accra on Monday, January 5, President Mahama stated, “In 2025 alone, the Free SHS program received 3.5 billion Ghana cedis under the GETFund. This has been the highest allocation since its inception, and this has strengthened logistics, feeding, and learning conditions in our secondary schools”.
He added, “I’m pleased to announce that about 100 double-track schools have already reverted to single-track. And the government remains firmly committed to abolishing the double-track system entirely through a focused two-year intervention, which we call the Ghana Secondary Learning Improvement Project — GSLIP.
This project will improve access and quality and restore full-time schooling for all students. So this year, next year are implementation. By the time we finish implementing, there’ll be no secondary school implementing double-track in this country.”
See the post below:
Ghana is spending too much on secondary education. If there's any sector that requires such investment, it should be at the basic level – Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Education/MP, Tamale South#Newsfile pic.twitter.com/ycKdsunvm5
— Joy 99.7 FM (@Joy997FM) September 12, 2026
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