Mahama commissions completed Paga E-Block, targets end to school congestion
President John Dramani Mahama has commissioned a completed E-Block project at Paga in the Upper East Region, reaffirming government’s commitment to reducing congestion and improving learning conditions in secondary schools across the country.
The commissioning formed part of President Mahama’s two-day working visit to the Upper East Region under his Resetting Ghana Tour.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Mahama said the Paga facility was among 30 abandoned E-Block projects selected for completion under government’s programme to ensure that investments already made in school infrastructure were not wasted.
He said funds had been allocated in the 2026 budget to complete the 30 projects as part of government’s broader investment in secondary education.
President Mahama explained that the government’s GH¢3 billion STAR-G Project was aimed at expanding infrastructure in secondary schools, reducing congestion and ultimately phasing out the double-track system.
“We said in 2024 that any project into which government has sunk money already, if you don’t finish it, it is a waste of the taxpayers’ money,” he said.
According to the President, students at the Paga school had previously been compelled to use parts of the unfinished facility under very difficult conditions.
He said the completion of the E-Block had now provided the students with a modern learning environment that would contribute to improved teaching and academic outcomes.
“The children were using part of the facility in very, very terrible conditions. Today they have a very beautiful, brand-new school, which will improve the learning and outcomes,” President Mahama said.
The President further directed the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to fast-track the supply of furniture and other equipment required by the school.
He said the provision of the necessary furniture and equipment would enable the school to fully utilise the completed facility and ensure that students benefited from the improved infrastructure.
President Mahama said the completion of the Paga E-Block demonstrated government’s determination to expand access to quality secondary education while ensuring that abandoned projects funded with taxpayers’ money were completed and put to use.
He reiterated that the broader STAR-G investment would provide the infrastructure needed to accommodate growing enrolment and support government’s objective of ending congestion and the double-track system in secondary schools.
