Akufo-Addo's Free SHS: Over 1,400 students pregnant in one year - Minority claims
- Minority MPs have claimed over 1,400 SHS students got pregnant in the 2018/2019 academic year
- According to the MPs, President Akufo-Addo's implementation of Free SHS is the cause of the pregnancies
- The MPs made the claim at a press conference addressed by Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee, Peter Nortsu
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Over 1,400 Senior High School (SHS) students got pregnant and dropped out of school in the 2018/2019 academic year, the Minority in Parliament has claimed.
Source: UGC
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According to the opposition MPs who failed to provide any proof to back their claims, the double-track system introduced by President Akufo-Addo's government into the Free SHS system is the cause of the pregnancies.
The double-track system was introduced after the implementation of the Free SHS policy saw a major increase in SHS students leading to congestion across schools in the country.
Under the system, one batch of students stays in school for some two months, while another is at home. When the first stream goes on break, the second also goes to school.
The double-track system has been received with mixed reactions since it was first introduced and the opposition NDC has been one of the staunchest critics.
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Addressing the opposition MPs press conference on Wednesday, November 6, 2019, Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee, Peter Nortsu, reiterated that the increasing rate of teenage pregnancies recorded is as a result of the introduction of the double-track system.
He added that the long vacation unnecessarily exposes the students to social risks such as alcoholism and the cultivation of deviant behaviour among others.
The MPs also said the double-track has failed to cure the problem of congestion due to the huge infrastructure deficit.
According to them, the government has abandoned all the projects the NDC government started before they were ousted in the December 2016 elections.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
