Government to spend $250 million on 200 new community SHS

Vice President John Dramani Mahama, on Tuesday announced that, government would spend a total of $250 million to establish 200 community senior high schools (SHS) within the next four years.

The establishment of the schools, he said would help decongest those in the urban areas and absorb more students at the community levels.

Vice President Mahama announced this when he launched the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) “Better Ghana Agenda II document” popularly known as the “Green Book II” in Accra.

The book, which covers four thematic areas of; building a strong economy, expanding infrastructure for growth, investing in people and transparent and accountable governance, also documented development projects executed by the NDC.

The 87-page book also carried various development projects from the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies and some achievements.

The achievements include a Gross Domestic Product growth of 13.6 per cent, longest sustained single-digit inflation, one million metric tons of cocoa production and the setting up of a Constitutional Review Committee.

Vice President Mahama said, the documentation of the achievements of the NDC was not a campaign gimmick, but accountability to “the good people of Ghana, who voted us into power in 2008 and for them to see what we have done, still doing and will do in the next term, giving us another opportunity”.

On the establishment of the Community SHS, he explained that with the growing enrolment of school children as a result of the Capitation Grants, there is the need to increase the second cycle institutions to absorb the teeming youth that would be graduating from the basic schools.

He maintained that although the wage bill had risen from more than GH¢2 billion to GH¢5 billion as a result of the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure, government would spend cautiously in order not to exceed the annual budget.

Vice President Mahama reiterated that in spite of this year’s general election, government would not over spend to derail the smooth movement of the economy.

Alhaji Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Communication said under the better Ghana agenda, a total of 1,250 schools under trees had been eliminated, while the establishment of two public universities are underway in Sunyani and Ho.

He announced that government had secured $400 million loan facility to complete all major roads under construction, whilst another facility of $200 million would be used to construct and upgrade cocoa and a number of feeder roads.

Alhaji Iddrisu said government had through internally generated funds procured additional 350 buses for the Metro Mass Transport system.**