The government is constructing 16 new Senior High Schools as part of measures to reduce congestion in existing schools and help bring an end to the double-track system.
President John Dramani Mahama said the construction forms part of a programme being financed through a newly approved US$300 million World Bank facility.
He said the new schools would create additional capacity in the Senior High School system and ease pressure on schools currently operating the double-track system because of inadequate infrastructure.
“Under that project too, we’re building 16 brand-new secondary schools so that we can ease the congestion in the existing schools,” President Mahama said.
He made the announcement during an inspection of ongoing Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) projects at Han Senior High School.
President Mahama also announced plans to convert Senior High Schools in rural areas with large catchment areas into boarding schools to ease the difficulties students face in commuting long distances to school.
He said the policy would represent a shift in the application of the community day school model, which he said was more suitable for densely populated areas where students could easily travel from home to school.
Mahama explained that rural schools often serve communities spread across wide areas, making daily commuting difficult for students.
“The intention now is to use the community day concept in the high-density population areas where the children can stay at home and easily go to school,” he said.
“And then for those that are in the rural areas with a big catchment area, we turn them into boarding schools so that the children can reside on campus.”
