Mahama inspects ongoing GETFund projects, promises boarding status for Han SHS
President John Dramani Mahama has inspected five ongoing Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) projects at Han Senior High School in the Upper West Region and assured the school community of government’s commitment to upgrading the institution to boarding status.
The inspection formed part of President Mahama’s two-day Resetting Ghana Tour of the Upper West Region, which includes engagements with communities and inspections of ongoing development projects.
President Mahama commended the quality of work being undertaken at the school and said the projects were being financed with taxpayers’ money.
He explained that Han Senior High School was originally established as a Community Day Senior High School, a concept intended to allow students to live at home and commute to school.
However, he said the government had realised that the model posed challenges for schools in rural communities because of their wide catchment areas.
“Especially for schools in rural areas, the catchment areas are so wide that it makes it difficult for students to commute to school every day,” President Mahama said.
He said government had therefore decided to apply the Community Day school concept mainly in densely populated areas, while rural schools with large catchment areas would be converted into boarding institutions.
President Mahama assured the Headmaster of HAN SHS that the school would receive the necessary infrastructure to support its conversion.
“Headmaster, we are not going to give you boarding status without building the necessary facilities. We will provide boys’ and girls’ dormitories, so you should know that boarding status is definitely on the way,” he said.
According to him, once the ongoing projects and additional facilities are completed, HAN SHS will officially be redesignated as a boarding school and will begin admitting boarding students.
The President also announced that government had secured a new US$300 million World Bank facility to support efforts to end the double-track system in senior high schools.
He said schools still operating the double-track system would have their infrastructure expanded to enable all students to attend school at the same time.
Under the same programme, government is also constructing 16 new senior high schools to reduce congestion in existing institutions.
President Mahama expressed the hope that by the end of 2027, no Ghanaian child would remain on the double-track system.
He said ending the system would increase contact hours between teachers and students and contribute to improved academic performance, particularly when students sit for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
President Mahama further assured the school community that he would return after the completion of the projects to commission the facilities and celebrate the achievement with them.
