The increasing number of unfinished infrastructure projects in senior high schools in the Central Region has prompted the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education to express grave concerns and urge the government to act quickly to finish them.
Despite having started some years ago, the abandoned projects—which include administrative buildings, school blocks, dorms, and assembly halls—remain unfinished.
The committee’s members, under the direction of Chairman Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, toured several public secondary schools and private colleges in the area for three days in order to obtain firsthand knowledge of the operational difficulties and educational infrastructure.
In an interview with Citi News on Friday, May 16, Nortsu-Kotoe said he was disappointed by the sheer volume of projects that have been put on hold and called the situation a significant blow to attempts to increase access to high-quality secondary education.
“We have discovered that there are a lot of abandoned secondary schools. Dormitories, classrooms, assembly halls and poor furniture, so we are appealing to the government to complete all these projects to eliminate the double-track system and improve access to secondary education.”
The completion of these improvements, according to the committee, would greatly reduce school traffic and eventually aid in the phase-out of the contentious double-track system, which was implemented as part of the Free SHS policy to solve infrastructure deficiencies.
The committee took note of stakeholder issues, especially those pertaining to operational support and policy execution at the private university level. Michael Aidoo, the founder of KAAF University, voiced concerns during a visit about the free tuition policy for first-year students, which at the moment seems to favor exclusively public universities.
“It is a very laudable idea, but I think the implementation is wrong. If you say scholarship for Ghanaian children, it means every Ghanaian child is entitled to it. If that is so, then give it to the children to decide which university they want to go to with the scholarship. But if you ask them to enroll in a public university before the scholarship can be granted to them, then the government is not being fair.”
He also urged the committee to support the inclusion of private universities in the free tertiary education program, stating that a student’s choice of institution shouldn’t restrict equitable access.
Nortsu-Kotoe responded by announcing that the law that had previously forced private universities to get a charter or face closure by the end of the previous year had been abolished, offering some respite to privately operated establishments.
At the end of its tour, the committee reaffirmed its commitment to working with stakeholders and the government to address the pressing need to finish projects that have been put on hold and guarantee fair policies at all educational levels.