Most Ghanaians think the Double-Track System has lowered standards in Senior High School (SHS) education, a fresh survey by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has shown.
The August 2026 poll found that “64.7% of Ghanaians believe the Double-Track System has had a negative effect on the quality of SHS education. ”The study, which sampled 1,062 respondents in all 16 regions, also revealed that 54.3% back government plans to borrow to build more schools and scrap the system. The results point to strong public backing for more SHS infrastructure, though the IEA cautioned that government must weigh the fiscal cost of funding such expansion through loans.
Of those who said Double-Track has hurt quality, 60.8% support borrowing to expand infrastructure and end the arrangement.In contrast, 20.2% said the system has improved secondary education quality, while 14.7% said it has made no difference. A further 0.2% gave no opinion.
Government introduced Double-Track eight years ago as a stop-gap to widen access to secondary education due to limited infrastructure across the country. While it enabled more students to enroll, the poll suggests many Ghanaians feel the increased access has come at the cost of quality.
The survey also showed that 54.3% of respondents support government borrowing to build new schools to phase out Double-Track.
However, 38.4% kicked against more borrowing, citing Ghana’s rising debt stock, while 6.2% were undecided. The findings reflect a general desire among majority of respondents for heavy investment in SHS infrastructure to end Double-Track, even as concerns linger over the debt implications of such financing.
