The Executive Board of the World Bank has approved a financing package of $300 million to support the government’s implementation of the Transformative Secondary Education for Access, Results and Relevance for Jobs (STARR-J) Project.
The STARR-J Project represents a major intervention aimed at strengthening Ghana’s secondary education system by expanding access, improving quality and relevance, and addressing critical infrastructure deficits arising from the expansion of Free Senior High School education.
A key objective of the project is to support the government’s commitment to ending the double-track system in senior high schools across the country.
Through targeted investments in educational infrastructure, improved learning conditions, and enhanced system efficiency, the government expects that by 2027, no secondary school in Ghana will be operating under the double-track system.
Expanding learning opportunities
Touching on the significance of the approval, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, in a statement said: “This project is a major investment in Ghana’s growing youthful population and a strategic contribution to the country’s long-term human capital development and global competitiveness.”
The statement added that it would help expand learning opportunities, improve school conditions, better align secondary education with the skills demanded by the labour market, and, more importantly, respond to the infrastructure deficit associated with expanded access to free secondary education.
The Ministry of Education expressed its appreciation to the World Bank Country Director, Robert Taliercio O’Brien, the World Bank Education team, and the Ministry of Finance, led by Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, for the continued support towards the transformation of the country’s education sector.
“The STARR-J Project reaffirms the government’s commitment to ensuring equitable access to quality secondary education and equipping Ghanaian students with the knowledge and skills required to thrive in an increasingly competitive global economy,” the statement said.
Background
Last month, President John Dramani Mahama said the government would end the double-track system in SHSs by 2027.
He said that would be facilitated by the upgrading of 50 SHSs through the $300-million World Bank facility under the STAR-J project.
Under the initiative, 30 category C schools will be upgraded to category B, and 20 category B schools to category A.
The project will see all secondary school teachers benefit from continuous professional development programmes, including digital literacy and artificial intelligence integration.