Ghana's development depends on sustained investment in education — Haruna Iddrisu

The Minister for Education Haruna Iddrisu has emphasised the need for sustained investment in education.

He says Ghana's long-term development depends on improving access to quality learning and expanding educational infrastructure.

He said government is prioritising investments across the education sector, including reliable financing for the Free Senior High School policy, expansion of secondary school infrastructure and increased support for foundational learning.

The Tamale South MP made the remarks on Thursday, August 6, during the sod-cutting ceremony for a 250-bed boys' boarding house at Achimota School.

The facility is being donated by an old student and Managing Director of Saka Homes, Ebenezer Saka Addo-Mensah, under GETFund's Education Financing and Partnership Initiative.

"This country can only develop if we invest more in education, and we are encouraging and advising the President to realign investment in education into basic foundational learning. When children get it right at this age, they will get it right tomorrow, and we have a better country to live in," said the Minister.

The minister said government is taking steps to address infrastructure challenges in secondary education, including plans to construct new schools and expand facilities at existing institutions to accommodate growing student populations.

He noted that government is also pursuing a 300 million US dollar programme to improve access to secondary education.

Mr Iddrisu said the investment package will support the construction of 32 new senior high and technical vocational schools, as well as four model district secondary schools in underserved areas.

He added that government also intends to upgrade 30 Category C schools to Category B status and 20 Category B schools to Category A as part of efforts to improve access to quality secondary education nationwide.

The Minister also directed GETFund to make additional GHS250 million allocations to upgrade infrastructure in selected Category A schools.