Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has questioned what advice he could receive from his predecessor, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, on addressing Ghana’s education challenges, arguing that the Mahama administration inherited a sector weighed down by significant problems.
Dr Adutwum, who served as Education Minister under the Akufo-Addo administration, had offered to share his experience with Mr Iddrisu, describing the two as good friends and saying he remained available to provide guidance on managing the education sector.
Mr Iddrisu, however, said the current government inherited serious challenges, including infrastructure deficits, shortages of food under the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme and the continued use of the double-track system.
“So, when he says come to me for advice, what advice? Advice that you left a despondent educational system is what President Mahama inherited,” he said.
He made the comments in an interview with TV3 on Friday, September 11, 2026.
‘Advice to end double-track?’
Mr Iddrisu also questioned whether Dr Adutwum could advise the current administration on how to end the double-track system, which was introduced under the previous government to accommodate increased enrolment following the implementation of Free SHS.
“Am I going to go to Minister Adutwum to seek for advice to end double track? When he invented double track and knows the consequences of double track on the quality of education? I should go for advice on that? Interesting times,” he said.
Feeding challenges
The Education Minister further pointed to challenges with feeding in some senior high schools under the previous administration.
According to him, some schools struggled to provide adequate food for students, leading to temporary disruptions to academic activities.
He also credited President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to uncap the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and allocate additional funding towards student feeding with improvements in the provision of food in schools.
Mr Iddrisu’s comments come amid an ongoing debate over the state of Ghana’s education sector and the government’s efforts to address challenges inherited from the previous administration.
