Legacy projects, including the E-blocks that commenced under former President John Dramani Mahama’s administration, constitute more than 60 per cent of completed projects in the education sector.
A total of 2,731 projects have been completed from 2017 to date.
The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) Administrator, Dr Richard Ampofo Boadu, who disclosed this at a forum in Accra yesterday, said out of the total, 1,651 legacy projects that had been completed included 15 E-blocks, 936 basic school projects, 563 SHS projects and 137 tertiary school projects.
Mr Boadu, therefore, debunked the assertion that the government had abandoned legacy projects in the education sector.
He, however, mentioned national education priority, budget cut, among others, as some of the factors which had resulted in the delay in executing some of the projects.
Forum
Organised by GETFund, the forum brought together stakeholders in the education sector to share their concerns and offer suggestions towards the improvement of the fund.
It was also an opportunity for GETFund to brief its key stakeholders on the projects and successes chalked up so far.
The forum was on the theme: “Innovation: a must to achieving positive outcomes”.
Scholarships
The Administrator said during the 2022/2023 academic year, GETFund issued over 4,276 scholarships to applicants.
Out of the figure, 1,328 constituted postgraduate scholarships, while 2,948 constituted undergraduate scholarships.
Aside from being transparent in its processes, Dr Boadu said his outfit focused more on empowering local universities.
The process of applying for scholarship, he said, had reduced from nine months to four months due to the digital management system adopted by the fund.
Some new initiatives being adopted by GETFund, he said, were fund requirement for contractors and a letter of no objection.
He gave an assurance that beginning next year, the fund would commit 70 per cent of its money to completing all projects.
Commitment
The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, said the government’s commitment towards education was unprecedented.
He said through building new schools and upgrading existing infrastructure, public schools would now be made more competitive.
“What we are doing is to change the space that children and teachers work in to give them a better environment that is inviting.
“Change is possible in this country and our better days are ahead of us and not before us,” he added.
Infrastructure expansion, he said, remained high on government’s agenda to ensure quality learning outcomes.
The minister urged GETFund to partner the private sector to develop hostel facilities to address the infrastructure deficit at the tertiary level.
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