Parliament approves US$300 million loan to expand SHS, end double-track system

Parliament has approved a US$300 million credit facility from the International Development Association (IDA) to finance the Secondary Education Transformation for Access, Relevance and Results for Jobs (STARR-J) Project, aimed at improving access to quality secondary education and eliminating the double-track system.

The funding will support the expansion of school infrastructure, strengthen technical and vocational education, improve teaching and learning, enhance governance within the education sector and better align secondary education with the demands of the labour market.

According to a report presented by Parliament’s Joint Committee, US$257.7 million, representing about 86 per cent of the total facility, has been earmarked for infrastructure development to help address the country's growing secondary school infrastructure deficit.

The project includes the construction of 10 new senior high schools in underserved districts, rehabilitation of 150 existing schools, upgrading of 30 Category C schools to Category B status and the elevation of 20 Category B schools to Category A.

The infrastructure component will also finance the completion of abandoned E-Block projects, expansion of existing schools, provision of furniture and other essential educational facilities, as well as improvements to the Computerised School Selection and Placement System to facilitate the transition to a single-track academic calendar.

The committee indicated that the new schools would be distributed across selected districts in the Central, Western North, Greater Accra, Volta, Oti, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Savannah and Western regions.

Beyond infrastructure, US$33.8 million from the IDA facility, together with US$31 million in counterpart funding from the Government of Ghana, will be invested in programmes aimed at improving the quality and relevance of secondary education.

The report stated that the funding will support teacher professional development, curriculum reforms, digital skills training, entrepreneurship education, stronger partnerships between schools and industry, and expanded work-based learning opportunities.

“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.

It further noted that the government's counterpart contribution would be used to strengthen the continuous professional development of teachers and instructors to support the implementation of the revised curriculum, particularly in mathematics, science, digital education and technical subjects.

The STARR-J Project also includes initiatives to strengthen education management systems, improve project monitoring and evaluation, enhance stakeholder communication, promote the prevention of gender-based violence and establish a contingent emergency response mechanism to address unforeseen emergencies.

The Joint Committee observed that the project is intended to tackle longstanding challenges confronting the Free Senior High School programme, including inadequate infrastructure, overcrowding, unequal access to education, insufficient laboratories and workshops, inadequate ICT facilities, shortages of teaching and learning materials and the weak connection between secondary education and labour market needs.

Recommending approval of the financing agreement, the committee said the facility would provide Ghana with concessional funding to transform the country's secondary education system.

“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,” the report stated.

The committee also noted that the government had demonstrated its commitment to addressing infrastructure challenges by allocating the largest share of the facility to school development and therefore recommended that Parliament approve the US$300 million credit agreement.