The Spokesperson on Education for the NDC, Dr. Clement Abas Apaak, has outlined major reforms the NDC will introduce should they assume office in 2025.According to him, the double-track system will be abolished to restore a single academic calendar.He added that the NDC will embark on an emergency infrastructure drive to complete abandoned E-blocks and expand infrastructure in existing SHSs and TVET institutions.Speaking at the NDC's sectoral press briefing on its 2024 manifesto, he listed 13 reforms the NDC will undertake:1. Abolish the double-track system to restore a stable one-track academic calendar;2. Embark on an emergency infrastructure drive to complete abandoned E-blocks and expand infrastructure in existing SHSs and TVET institutions;3. Provide a dedicated and sustainable funding source for quality secondary education by ring-fencing a percentage of our oil proceeds;4. Decentralize the procurement of food and other basic supplies, ensure timely food supply and improve the quantity an d quality of food for students;5. Continue our policy of provision of free laptops/tablets for SHS students;6. Extend Free SHS to cover students in private Senior High Schools;7. Review the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) to address corruption in school placement and make it merit-based;8. Reform secondary education curricula to integrate STEM, agriculture, vocational skills, digital literacy, civic education, design thinking and life skills into secondary educational outcomes;9. Expand Science Resource Centres (SRC) across the regions to support STEM/TVET education;10. Commence the establishment of regional TVET Centres of Excellence integrated with fabrication and other state-of-the-art facilities to promote innovation and simulate real work environments;11. Prioritize, rebrand and increase investments in TVET as a key anchor of economic transformation;13. Implement a 'National Apprenticeship Programme' to generate self-employment through the provision of free tech nical and vocational training for young people in various crafts;With regards to the tertiary, he highlighted 9 distinctive policies the NDC will take to transform the sector.The next NDC/Mahama government, he said, will:1. Implement a 'No-Academic-Fees' policy for all first-year students in all public tertiary institutions (Universities, Technical Universities, Colleges of Education, Nursing Training Colleges etc.);2. Provide Free Tertiary Education for all persons with disabilities;3. Implement a 'Bed-for-All' programme by building on-campus and affordable students' hostels and expanding accommodation facilities for tertiary students through PPP Schemes;4. Provide trainee allowances, student loans and other diverse funding options for teacher and nurses trainees;5. Revamp the Student Loan Trust Fund to increase loan amounts based on a needs assessment and ensure prompt disbursements;6. Introduce legislation to usher in a new era of government scholarship administration which will prohibit th e award of scholarships to government officials and streamline scholarships across multiple sectors to do away with the current uncoordinated regime;7. De-collateralise the GETFUND and restore it to its original mandate of educational financing;8. Continue with our policy to establish public universities in every region with a focus on newly-created regions;9. Improve subventions to public Universities and ensure timely disbursements.Source: Ghana Web