Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the former Minister of Education and 2024 Vice-Presidential candidate, has mounted a fierce defense of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) double-track system, asserting that the policy presided over the highest academic standards in Ghana’s recent history.
Speaking on the heels of the provisional 2025 WASSCE results – which have sparked a national debate over a sharp decline in core subject performance – the man popularly known as “NAPO” argued that the double-track era was not merely an infrastructural stop-gap, but a period of unprecedented meritocracy that effectively silenced critics of the “quality versus access,” debate.
“The best WASSCE results happened under double-track. Student success during that period could not be attributed solely to the use of past questions. These investments played a critical role in supporting teaching and learning. The policy expanded access without compromising academic standards”
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Former Minister of Education
Dr. Opoku Prempeh’s intervention comes at a critical juncture for Ghana’s education sector.
While current 2025 data reveals a significant drop in Core Mathematics and Social Studies pass rates, NAPO maintained that during his tenure, the deliberate resourcing of schools proved that the double-track system could expand access without diluting the value of a high school diploma.
Addressing the narrative that the double-track system congested schools and compromised learning, Dr. Opoku Prempeh pointed to the historical performance of the “pioneer” cohorts.
He rejected the notion that students excelled simply because the government provided past questions, instead crediting a “multi-factor,” investment strategy. This strategy included the massive procurement of core textbooks, the timely release of Academic Intervention Grants, and specialized training for science and mathematics teachers.
NAPO supported his defense with historical data from 2020 and 2021, where core subject pass rates climbed above 60%, a stark contrast to the pre-Free SHS era.
He argued that by keeping students in classrooms rather than allowing them to drift into domestic labor, the double-track system functioned as a social stabilizer, professionalizing the second-cycle experience for over 1.2 million Ghanaians.
“No Fee Stress” Rebuttal
The former Minister also took aim at the current administration’s “No Fee Stress,” policy, which has been marketed as a revolutionary relief for tertiary students.
In a sharp critique, NAPO dismissed the branding as “political repackaging,” asserting that the fundamental barriers to tertiary access were broken during his tenure through the reform of the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF).
He argued that the true “reset” occurred when the government scrapped the “three state-worker guarantor,” requirement – a barrier that had historically excluded students from disadvantaged backgrounds. By transitioning to a system anchored on the Ghana Card, the previous administration had already democratized access to higher education financing.
“Any Ghanaian who could prove their identity had the opportunity to benefit from the loan scheme – measures aimed at easing the financial burden on students had already been rolled out before recent political promises”
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Former Minister of Education
The Allowance Trap
Perhaps most controversially, Dr. Opoku Prempeh used the platform to call for a “hard reset,” on the teacher trainee allowance model. Despite the political sensitivity of the issue, NAPO warned that the current system is economically unsustainable and historically “distorted.”
He recounted how the allowance originally existed because trainees were on the GES payroll while in school – a model that became outdated once training colleges were upgraded to tertiary university colleges.
“At a certain point, we must wean teacher trainees off allowances. The allowance became politicized and transformed into a campaign promise, making it difficult for successive governments to discontinue the policy despite rising enrollment and increasing fiscal pressure. Government support should be more targeted, suggesting the use of interest-free student loans”
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Former Minister of Education
This, Dr. Opoku Prempeh argued, would align teacher training with other professional university programs and allow the government to redirect funds toward priority sectors like STEM and TVET.
NAPO’s stance suggests that while the double-track system was a triumph of his era, the future of Ghanaian education depends on a shift from populist allowances to professionalized, loan-based support.
As the 2025 academic year closes with fluctuating performance metrics, his “Doctrine” serves as both a defense of past successes and a warning that the current fiscal path for tertiary support may be nearing its breaking point.
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