Education Ministry Secures $300M World Bank Support to Expand Category A High Schools Nationwide

The Ministry of Education has unveiled an ambitious infrastructure expansion drive to convert 20 Category B Senior High Schools into Category A status alongside the construction of 10 brand-new model Category A secondary institutions nationwide.

The government-led intervention seeks to rectify the acute deficit of vacancies in top-tier secondary schools, which annually strains the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) and leaves tens of thousands of qualified applicants without placements in elite institutions.

Speaking in an interview on TV3 on September 11, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu cited severe operational mismatches in the placement system following the rapid intake growth under the Free Senior High School policy.

During the 2026 placement cycle, roughly 328,000 basic school graduates chose Category A institutions as their top priority, even though those schools maintained a total combined capacity of just 76,000 seats.

Capital Injection via STARR-J Initiative and GETFund

To support the massive structural expansion, the Minister announced that the government has secured $300 million from the World Bank under the STARR-J initiative.

Complementing the external financing, Haruna Iddrisu instructed the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to ring-fence between GH¢250 million and GH¢300 million in its upcoming 2027 funding allocation dedicated to upgrading classroom blocks, dormitories, and specialized laboratories across target facilities.

The Tamale South Member of Parliament emphasized that expanding the footprint of premier secondary institutions is essential to matching modern enrollment pressures with adequate physical capacity.

The planned upgrades and construction of new model schools will broaden admission capacity nationwide, giving high-performing graduates a fairer opportunity to secure placements in top-category institutions.