Parliament has approved a US$300 million credit facility for the STARR J Project, clearing the way for a major expansion of secondary school infrastructure and a fresh attempt to end Ghana’s double track system.
The financing, provided by the International Development Association, will support the Secondary Education Transformation for Access, Relevance and Results for Jobs Project.
It targets some of the most persistent problems facing secondary education, including overcrowded classrooms, weak technical facilities, limited ICT access and the uneven distribution of schools.
According to the report of Parliament’s Joint Committee, US$257.7 million, representing about 86 per cent of the facility, will go into infrastructure development.
The plan includes the construction of 10 new secondary schools in underserved districts and the rehabilitation of 150 existing schools. Thirty Category C schools will be upgraded to Category B, while 20 Category B schools will be elevated to Category A status.
Abandoned E Block projects are also expected to receive attention. Existing schools will be expanded, furniture and essential learning facilities will be supplied, and the Computerised School Selection and Placement System will be improved to support a return to a single track academic calendar.
The new schools are expected to be spread across regions including Central, Western North, Greater Accra, Volta, Oti, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Savannah and Western.
Teaching Quality and Job Skills in Focus
The remaining US$33.8 million from the IDA facility will be combined with US$31 million in counterpart funding from the Government of Ghana to improve teaching and learning.
The funds will support teacher professional development, curriculum reforms, digital skills training, entrepreneurship education, industry partnerships and work based learning.
“The component will improve teaching and learning and ensure that secondary education equips students with knowledge and competencies relevant to the labour market,” the committee stated.
Part of the government’s contribution will also finance continuous professional development for teachers and instructors, especially in mathematics, science, digital education and technical subjects.
Project Targets Free SHS Bottlenecks
The committee said the project was designed partly to address weaknesses that have followed the expansion of the Free Senior High School policy.
These include inadequate classrooms, shortages of laboratories and workshops, limited teaching materials and weak links between secondary education and labour market needs.
The project will also strengthen education management systems, monitoring and evaluation, communication and gender based violence prevention. A contingent emergency response mechanism will be created to support the sector during eligible emergencies.
Recommending approval, the committee said the agreement would give Ghana access to concessional financing for a broad overhaul of secondary education.
“The Committee is satisfied that the Financing Agreement provides Ghana with concessional resources to improve secondary education infrastructure, enhance the quality and relevance of teaching and learning, strengthen technical and vocational education, improve education sector governance and end the double track system.” - Committee report said.
The scale of the infrastructure allocation leaves little doubt about the immediate priority. Ghana needs more school space, and Parliament has now backed a costly route to provide it.
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