The Ministry of Education has requested additional GH¢300 million in funding from the Ministry of Finance for the expansion of infrastructure in Category 'A' senior high schools (SHSs) as part of efforts to deal with the high demand for those institutions.

The intended infrastructure expansion is meant to double the current intake into such schools.

The figure is expected to reflect in the 2026 Budget Statement.

"All of us want our wards in the best schools, justifiably so. But are we investing in expanding infrastructure in the Category 'A' schools?

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, said at the opening of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG)’s 22nd Biennial Congress at Aburi in the Eastern Region yesterday.

"Only this morning, I made a request to the Minister of Finance for an additional financing of GH¢300 million to be dedicated to expanding facilities in Category 'A' schools.

Many of them, with a dormitory and classroom, can double their intake," Mr Iddrisu added.

Rethinking

The event was on the theme: "Rethinking Higher Education Pedagogy and Funding in the Age of AI: Ethics, Equity and Development Impact".

Citing Achimota School, Wesley Girls SHS, Mfantsipim School, Adisadel College, Presbyterian Boys SHS and Tamale SHS as examples, Mr Iddrisu said the schools had good assets, which should make it possible "to double” their intake.

What was required, he said, were additional classrooms and dedicated teachers, among a few other things.

"Government needs to invest in the infrastructure, but more for equitable, inclusive, quality education.

"So, while spending GH¢300 million on Category 'A' schools, I'll commit GH¢500 million to GH¢1 billion to other infrastructure across the country," he said.

Scholarships

The Education Minister said he would ensure that the Scholarship Authority Bill was passed into law when Parliament resumed.

Mr Iddrisu described the No-Fee Stress initiative for first-year tertiary students, many of whom were financially disadvantaged, as the most impactful initiative of his time as Minister of Education under President John Dramani Mahama.

In future, he said, Ghana could have a scholarship and bursaries authority to oversee the No-Fee Stress initiative and also administer bursaries in the name of scholarship.

Mr Iddrisu said he had also asked the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) Secretariat to ensure that in the coming years, there should be a minimum allocation of about GH¢5 million to the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences every other year. 

Recruitment

He said he was working to get clearance from the Ministry of Finance for additional recruitment into institutions of higher learning.

The education space alone, he said, would require 93,000 recruitments to fill vacancies both for institutions of higher learning, relevant commissions and the Ghana Education Service, among others.

The minister assured lecturers that the Book and Research Allowance would be paid, saying the government had committed GH¢610 million for it, nearly a 50 per cent increase on last year’s GH¢408 million for that purpose.

"We will honour book and research allowance," he emphasised.

Moreover, he said, the National Research Fund had been established with $5 million committed to it.

He commended UTAG for its principled position against illegal mining.

Presenting a paper, the Director-General of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence, Dr Collins Yeboah Afari, said the application of artificial intelligence in education had provided an insightful avenue for progress.

He said it would enable personalised learning and others.

A former Dean of the University of Ghana Business School, Prof. Joshua Yindenaba Abor, said that to align with global sustainability goals, it was important to support eco-friendly projects such as retrofitting university buildings with sustainable energy sources.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Amfo, who chaired the event, said all stakeholders wanted to see higher education improved in the country in a sustainable manner.

She confirmed Mr Iddrisu's statement that a warrant had been issued for the book and research allowance, and "I can say that I am a witness to the issuance of that warrant".

For his part, the Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor, charged all to commit to a pedagogy that was dynamic, relevant and impactful.

"Let us embrace our roles not just as teachers and researchers, but as the chief architects of Ghana’s future.

“Together, let us build a tertiary education system that is not only a source of national pride, but the undeniable engine of our national transformation," he said.

Awards were presented to some individuals.