“It Was a Slip of the Tongue” – Education Ministry PRO Clarifies Minister’s Remarks on Double-Track Deadline

The Ministry of Education has clarified that Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu’s recent remarks suggesting the double-track system would end in 2029 were a slip of the tongue, insisting that the government’s target of eliminating the system by 2027 remains unchanged.

Speaking on Starr FM, the Ministry’s Head of Public Relations, Hashmin Mohammed, explained that the Minister had misspoken during the Government Accountability Series in Accra and that there has been no revision to the government’s implementation timeline.

“So, let me say it was a slip of the tongue. What I do know is that the double-track system falls under the STAR-G project, in which eliminating double-track is one of the components. Under the infrastructure aspect of the project, we intend to eliminate double-track by 2027, which is next year,” he said.

The clarification follows comments made by the Education Minister during the Government Accountability Series on Monday, where he appeared to indicate that the double-track system would be phased out by 2029 to allow for additional infrastructure development.

Hashmin Mohammed, however, stressed that the government’s position has not changed and that ongoing infrastructure expansion under the Secondary Education Transformation for Access, Relevance and Sustainability (STAR-G) project remains on course to support the elimination of the double-track system by 2027.

He explained that the Minister’s reference to an additional year was in response to concerns about creating enough classroom space in selected senior high schools before the system is fully phased out.

“Even yesterday, when a question was posed to him about whether there would be enough vacancies in the selected senior high schools, he responded by saying he needs an additional one year to be able to end double-track. So that means double-track is expected to end by 2027.”

The Ministry has therefore urged the public to disregard reports suggesting that the deadline has been extended to 2029, maintaining that the government’s commitment to ending the double-track system by 2027 remains firmly in place.