The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) has completed a total of 3,077 projects across the country since 2017.

They include 1,832 legacy projects, some of which are E-Blocks, and 1, 245 new structures.

The Administrator of the GETFund, Dr Richard Ampofo Boadu, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ forum in Accra yesterday.

Enrolment

Dr Boadu said when the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy came on board, enrolment tripled, "so we had to refocus ourselves to complete the legacy projects and build wholly new structures to absorb the students".

He added that new secondary school emergency projects were also carried out with support from the Education Ministry and its agencies.

On scholarships, Dr Boadu said his outfit was providing more scholarships to university students in the country than those in schools outside the country.

In line with that, 5,026 scholarships were offered to local students, as against 224 to citizens studying outside the country.

Support

The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, in an address read on his behalf, said the GETFund had been instrumental in upgrading infrastructure across all levels of education acrosss the country over the last 20 years.

He said the fund had positively impacted the quality of education delivery, ensuring that every child had access to education in a conducive learning environment.

"At the Ministry of Education, our main purpose is to ensure that quality education is given to every child within the country.

“This is all geared towards ensuring that the human capital of this country is secured for national development," the minister added.

Dr Adutwum further said that the construction of model schools, such as Science Technical Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), e-blocks, and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) centres of excellence were a testament to the success stories of the GETFund.

"STEM education, we all know, prepares our youth for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. 

“It also equips them with global competitiveness and local innovation, while TVET, on the other hand, produces a skilled and adaptable workforce, including supporting our local industries to deliver on their mandate,” he said.

The minister expressed his gratitude to GETFund for redirection of funds towards local scholarship in a cost-effective approach that benefits "our students and preserves our resources".

Significance

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Prof. Eric Nyarko-Sampson, explained that the forum was to enable management of GETFund and beneficiaries to share their experiences and success stories.

He said education was a major instrument in promoting the socio-economic development of any nation.