President John Dramani Mahama has inaugurated the Paga Senior High School E-Block in the Kassena Nankana West District of the Upper East Region, bringing the previously abandoned educational facility into use.
Speaking at a durbar to inaugurate the facility, President Mahama also announced plans to expand infrastructure at Paga SHS and upgrade the school into a full boarding institution.
Responding to an appeal by the Paramount Chief of the Paga Traditional Area, Pe Charles Awiah Awampaga II, the President said the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) would provide additional facilities to support the school.
“GETFund will construct three additional facilities for the school: a girls’ dormitory, a boys’ dormitory, and a dining hall. In addition, I am presenting a brand-new 60-seater bus to this school,” President Mahama announced.
He also directed GETFund to fast-track the provision of furniture and other equipment required for the effective use of the newly inaugurated facility.
President Mahama said the completion of the Paga E-Block forms part of his administration’s commitment to completing abandoned E-Block projects across the country and expanding access to secondary education.
“Today, students in Paga have a beautiful, brand-new school that will significantly improve their learning experience and outcomes,” he said.
The E-Block initiative dates back to President Mahama’s first administration and formed part of the NDC’s 2012 manifesto commitment to construct 200 Community Day Senior High Schools across the country. The plan was to construct 50 schools annually over four years to expand access to secondary education, particularly in underserved communities. However, the Mahama administration was unable to deliver all 200 schools before leaving office in January 2017. Records indicate that contracts had been awarded for about 123 schools, with 46 reported completed and several others at various stages of construction.
Successive governments continued work on some of the inherited projects, although several remained incomplete. The Akufo-Addo administration reported completing some E-Blocks inherited from the Mahama government, including 13 by 2018, but did not complete all the outstanding projects before leaving office. By 2022, the Ministry of Education acknowledged that a number of the inherited schools remained unfinished, with some earmarked for completion while contracts for others had been terminated.
President Mahama has now reaffirmed his commitment to completing the remaining abandoned E-Blocks as part of efforts to address infrastructure deficits in the senior high school system.
Beyond completing existing projects, the President announced that the government would construct 30 new E-Blocks from scratch in high-population-density areas under the STAR-G project.
“I have tasked GETFund to fast-track the provision of furniture and all necessary equipment. Furthermore, under the STAR-G project, we will build another 30 new E-Blocks from scratch in high-population-density areas,” he said.
The infrastructure expansion, he explained, would also support the government’s target of completely phasing out the double-track system by 2027.
President Mahama further reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to the Free Senior High School programme, saying the government had secured dedicated and sustainable funding for the policy.
“During the campaign, our opponents claimed that a Mahama government would cancel Free SHS. As you can all see now, that was pure propaganda. We are rather improving Free SHS so that learning outcomes and the quality of education become much better,” he stated.
He urged the management, teachers and students of Paga SHS to make effective use of the new infrastructure and other resources to improve academic performance.
The President said the completion of abandoned school projects, construction of additional E-Blocks and expansion of facilities at existing schools form part of his administration’s broader efforts to improve access, infrastructure and learning outcomes in the country’s secondary education system.ga SHS to make effective use of the new infrastructure and other resources to improve academic performance.
The President also reiterated his administration’s commitment to addressing infrastructure deficits in education as part of its broader agenda to improve access, quality and learning outcomes across the country.
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