The government has secured a $300 million financing package to permanently end the double-track system in Senior High Schools by the end of 2027, President John Dramani Mahama has revealed.

In a post shared on his official Facebook page, President Mahama said the disclosure followed a high-level bilateral engagement with International Finance Corporation (IFC) Managing Director, Makhtar Diop, during which they discussed economic transformation, agriculture, infrastructure and education.

He indicated that “Through our collaboration with the World Bank, we have secured a $300 million financing package to permanently end the double-track system in Senior High Schools by the end of 2027”.

The President went on to tout his government’s resilience in ensuring steady economic growth, highlighting the massive economic challenges his government inherited from the erstwhile Akufo-Addo-led administration.

“Despite the severe economic crisis we inherited, our commitment to prudent management and fiscal discipline is already yielding positive results. We are seeing a sharp decline in inflation, reduced national indebtedness, and a strong resurgence of investor confidence.”

Details of discussion

Among the many things they discussed were ways to boost the country’s economic standing, create employment opportunities for the youth, and accelerate infrastructure development.

“I received Makhtar Diop, Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), for a high-level bilateral engagement. Our discussions focused on deepening our strategic partnership to transform Ghana’s economy, with a strong emphasis on boosting commercial agriculture production in cocoa, oil palm, and poultry.

“Reaffirming our commitment to industrialisation, I reiterated our firm policy to process at least 50% of our cocoa, farm produce, and mineral resources to create sustainable jobs for our youth.

“We also explored opportunities under The Big Push programme to overhaul our infrastructure, specifically in railways, aviation, and road network development. This will be alongside critical investments in energy, digital connectivity, and education.”

In late May, President Mahama announced the government’s intention to end the double-track system in Senior High Schools (SHS) by 2027.

President John Mahama confirmed this at Sawla during his Resetting Ghana tour of the Savannah Region on Friday, May 22, stating that his government had embarked on expanding infrastructure in senior high schools nationwide and upgrading selected schools to increase enrolment capacity as part of efforts to phase out the double-track system next year.

“In 2027, no Senior High School will be doing double track. We’re reverting to the old system. Everybody will go to school at the same time to increase contact hours with the teachers. And so, we’re going to expand the infrastructure in our Senior High Schools,” President Mahama said.

To effect the planned transition, President Mahama indicated that “In this regard, the government has secured a $300 million facility from the World Bank to upgrade 50 senior high schools nationwide under the Secondary Education Transformation for Access, Results and Relevance for Jobs (STARR-J) Initiative.

The STARR-J Project (Secondary Education Transformation for Access, Relevance, and Results for Jobs) is a $300 million World Bank-backed initiative launched in 2026 to overhaul Ghana’s secondary education system. It aims to expand access, improve quality, strengthen relevance to jobs, and modernise management systems nationwide.

Under this project, 30 Category C senior high schools will be upgraded to Category B, while 20 Category B schools will be upgraded to Category A,” he added.

About the double-track system

The double-track system in Ghana’s Senior High Schools (SHS) started in September 2018 under the Free SHS policy. It was introduced to manage overcrowding caused by the sharp rise in enrolment after Free SHS began in 2017. The system split students into two cohorts, the Green and Gold tracks, to maximise limited infrastructure and ensure all qualified students had access to SHS.

About the Free SHS policy

The Free Senior High School policy was introduced in 2017 by the Akufo-Addo-led government to make secondary education accessible to all eligible students without financial barriers.

The policy was aimed at helping students who struggled to pay tuition, boarding, and other school-related expenses. However, the policy came with challenges such as overcrowding and congestion in schools, pressure on infrastructure and facilities, and increased pressure on teachers.

This increased the number of enrolments in the senior high schools that were listed under the Free SHS policy. About 3.5 million students have benefited from the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme since its launch.

The immediate-past government revealed that it had spent over GH¢12 billion on the implementation of the Free SHS policy since its inception. Meanwhile, Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has urged a reassessment of Ghana’s Free SHS initiative, recommending that households with sufficient means contribute financially so that government support can be directed towards students in real need.

During a meeting with Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, the Asantehene suggested a shared funding model, akin to previous arrangements where financial aid was granted to bright but needy students, while those with the ability to pay covered their own expenses.

“Those who can afford to pay, let’s have a second look at the policy. If someone can afford it, let’s allow them to pay. In the old times, when you passed, the bursary would look for good but needy students and award them scholarships, and those who could afford to pay did so.”