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Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, commonly known as Napo, the 2024 running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has taken the former Akufo-Addo government flagship Free Senior High Schools (SHSs) to Harvard University.
Napo, in a social media post on Facebook, revealed he had the opportunity to present Ghana’s transformative Free Senior High School program, sharing it as a case study in how bold policy can reshape a nation’s future.
The former Education minister on Facebook wrote, “After first participating in the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program in 2017, and receiving the 2020 Harvard Ministerial Medal of Achievement for leading historic reforms in Ghana’s education sector, I was deeply honoured to return this year as a member of the faculty for the program”.
Napo added, “As a faculty member, I had the privilege of presenting on Ghana’s transformative Free Senior High School program, sharing it as a case study in how bold policy, rooted in equity and access, can reshape a nation’s future.
Reflecting on this journey reminded me of the tremendous work we accomplished at the Ministry of Education by expanding access, breaking down barriers, and giving hope to a new generation of young Ghanaians. It is a legacy of service that continues to inspire”.
The Free Senior High School (FSHS) program under former president Akufo-Addo benefited a total of 3.5 million Ghanaian children.
The program was launched in 2017 as a key part of the government’s effort to make secondary education more accessible to all Ghanaians.
According to the Free Senior High School Secretariat’s annual enrollment data as of 2024, the beneficiaries under the program stood at 3,511,733.
However, the current Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has said the former government’s double-track system under the Free Senior High Schools (SHSs) negatively affected the quality of education.
The Education Minister noted that the double-track system reduced contact hours and study time for students in the Senior High School.
Speaking at a media briefing on Sunday, August 24, 2025, Haruna Iddrisu stated, “The double-track system has impacted negatively on the quality and outcomes of education under the Free SHS policy. Students have fewer contact hours and less study time, which affects their performance.
“Government’s commitment to ending the system can only be realised at three levels: expanding infrastructure, strengthening digital resources in schools, and allowing private SHSs to absorb qualified students to ease the pressure,” he said at a media briefing.
Also, Haruna Iddrisu has announced that an eleven-member committee to guide the reversal from double-track to single-track has been set up.
The committee has been tasked to review the 2024/2025 academic calendar and propose a roadmap for a single-track.
Meanwhile, Haruna Iddrisu, some months ago, revealed that the John Mahama government is taking all the necessary steps to ensure that the Double-Track system at the Senior High School level is phased out by 2027.
The sector minister revealed they are working on a revised curriculum if the government is to succeed in ending the double-track system.
Speaking in an engagement with members of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) at a meeting held in Sunyani in the Bono Region, Haruna Iddrisu stated, “We are working to revise the curriculum…If the government is to succeed in ending the double-track system, not later than Monday, you should have a board so that all expenditures are properly approved by the board.
“We expect that by the year 2027, the double-track system will be a thing of the past,” he added.
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