According to several CSOs and teacher organizations, the Akufo-Addo administration has only finished building 17 of the 5,400 schools under trees since 2021.
According to a research produced by ten CSOs, including STAR-Ghana, CAMFED, and ActionAid Ghana, will need more than 300 years to demolish the more than 5,400 schools located beneath trees, sheds, and decaying buildings.
“There are over 5,400 schools existing under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures, a situation which negatively affects, teaching, learning, and learning outcomes. The general learning environment is not only a disincentive for teachers to accept postings but also demotivates existing teachers while making school attendance unattractive to students.
“The government in 2021 announced a programme to replace all schools under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures with decent new school buildings by 2025. To date, only 17 have been completed. Given the current pace, it will take Ghana more than 300 years to eradicate the over 5,400 schools under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures, which is unacceptable.”
According to the report, between 2015 and 2021, public elementary schools increased by 12%, while private schools rose by 68%. However, over the medium term, from 2018 to 2021, only an average of 0.8 primary schools were built annually each district.
The government may be moving the burden of delivering free, universal, basic education to the private sector, which is out of the reach of the poor, based on the slow development of public schools and the inadequate investment in basic school facilities.
The government’s “one student, one laptop” policy was criticized by CSOs and teacher organizations as well.
“Government’s plan to procure 1.3 million laptops to replace textbooks in Senior High Schools across the country does not represent efficient and prioritised use of public funds in the face of a heavily underfunded basic education sub-sector”.
The CSOs also provided a number of proposals that, if implemented, they feel could assist the nation’s educational system recover.
“The government must develop an emergency infrastructure expansion plan for overcrowded urban and peri-urban schools. The Plan must also include a purposive approach to bridging the 25 percent gap between primary and JHS while providing new schools for underserved communities. The government must deploy desks to all the 2.3 million pupils in underserved schools. Partnerships with the Forestry Commission and the private sector should be pursued,” the organisations recommended.
