Accra, July 3, GNA – Ghana has received a 156-million-dollar loan from the International Development Association (IDA), to finance a Secondary Education Improvement project (SEIP) to advance secondary education.
SEIP will support Government’s Community Day Senior High School Programme, to Increase gender and geographical equity, and improve quality in Senior High Schools.
It will also support Management, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of Government’s Schools Programme
A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency said, the first component of the project, which will cost 140.1 million dollars, will fall under two pillars.
The statement said the first pillar will aim at increasing access to equity with regard to gender, geography and poverty.
The second pillar will seek to improve quality of selected low performing Senior High Schools.
The statement said SEIP’s objectives under pillar one, are to improve access to senior secondary education, and improve equity in undeserved districts, and award scholarships to students from low income families, especially girls. .
SEIP is expected to help government to expand space, through the construction of new senior secondary schools in underserved areas.
It will also help to rehabilitate and expand existing low performing schools and offer support for SHS attainment of disadvantaged students.
The statement said government plans to construct schools in 14 selected districts where there are no SHS.
It said using the agreed selection criteria for eligible student population, compared combined with district level poverty indicators, an additional 9 districts have been identified for new construction.
The statement said the ultimate objective of building these new schools is to create new spaces for those demanding seats in SHS, and to also fill these spaces with new students coming from previously underserved communities.
It said in addition to new schools, the project would focus on improving existing SHS, particularly those with capacity for expansion.
SEIP will also help upgrade bathrooms, science labs, and computer facilities of existing SHS’s.
The statement said approximately 125 existing SHS’s will be supported.
Pillar 2, according to the statement, will seek to improve the quality of education in selected low-performing Senior High Schools.
It said the objective of this pillar is to improve the quality of education in selected low performing SHS’s with a focus on mathematics and science education.
SEIP under this pillar would also strengthen school management, leadership and expansion of ICT in 125 selected low-performing schools.
The statement said SEIP will also introduce School Performance Partnerships (SPPs) based on School Performance Partnership Plans (SPPPs) to capture quality improvements.
It said the SPPs would develop mutual accountability between school management and the District Education Oversight Committee (DEOC) to improve learning performance.
The statement said the focus on mathematics and science subjects is aligned with the Government strategy to encourage these program areas throughout all education levels.
It said SEIP under Pillar 2 lead the expansion of ICT wireless connectivity in order to strengthen science, mathematics and other subject education through digital content for teachers and students.
‘Schools will have access to an education portal1 2 (i-campus) where teachers and students can utilize multiple online resources that are expected to support improved teaching and learning,’ the statement said.
Component 2 under the Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP) will cost 15.9 million dollars, and will be used to finance Management, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of Government’s SHs projects.
The statement said Component 2 will aim to strengthen the implementation capacity of the Ministry of Education (MOE) and THE Ghana Education Service (GES), and its related implementing agencies to assist them to achieve the objectives of the Government’s SHS strategy.
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