<<Print>>

Minister of Finance, Mr. Seth Terkper says government is constructing 1,683 schools to replace various schools being operated under trees. According to him, in line with government�s commitment to rid the country of schools under trees, �Forty-two percent of the schools have been completed and handed over to the beneficiary schools while 20 percent are at advanced stages of completion. The remaining 38 percent are at various stages of completion� The minister made these remarks when he presented the 2013 budget statement and economic policy in Parliament on Tuesday. He stated that in a bid to improve the quality of education in the country, government has put in place a lot of interventions like the payment of Capitation Grant of GH�32.1million to 5,467,808 pupils in all public basic schools; Provision of free school uniforms for 1.6 million pupils in deprived communities; distribution of 28.4 million free exercise books to Basic Schools; distribution of 53,555 laptop computers under the Basic Schools Computerization Project to over 2,000 schools as well as payment of subsidies for 697,917 and 51,487 students in Senior High Schools and Technical Vocational Institutes. Mr. Seth Terkper also indicated that because some of the schools in the country are having challenges in terms of water and sanitation facilities, �The Ministry of Works and Housing will collaborate with the Ministry of Education to undertake a needs assessment of water and sanitation facilities in all existing schools and draw up a programme to meet the existing gaps. With regards to new schools, conscious effort will be made to provide adequate water and sanitation facilities as part of the essential requirements for the schools�. He also stressed that the school-feeding programme would progressively expand that initiative to all public basic schools in rural communities to satisfy the basic nutritional needs of the pupils. �With specific reference to basic education, the Mahama administration would ensure that every child gets a head start by working to effectively and practically integrate kindergarten education into the existing system. We intend to emphasise inclusive education by ensuring that our children with special needs are fully integrated into our society through the educational arrangements. We would construct a total of 200 new community day senior high schools, giving priority to districts which currently lack such schools in the next four years� he added.