It'll take Akufo-Addo 300yrs to phase out 5,400 under-tree schools – CSOs say only 17 done so far despite 2025 deadline

There are over 5,400 schools existing under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures, "a situation which negatively affects, teaching, learning, and learning outcomes", some 10 CSOs and teacher groups have noted in a report.

The general learning environment, the report said, "is not only a disincentive for teachers to accept postings but also demotivates existing teachers while making school attendance unattractive to students".

The groups noted that the Akufo-Addo government, in 2021, "announced a programme to replace all schools under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures with decent new school buildings by 2025".

However, the report said: "To date, only 17 have been completed".

"Given the current pace, it will take Ghana more than 300 years to eradicate the over 5,400 schools under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures, which is unacceptable", the report indicated.

On the plan by the government to procure 1.3 million laptops to replace textbooks in senior high schools, the groups say it "does not represent efficient and prioritised use of public funds in the face of a heavily underfunded basic education sub-sector".

Instead, they propose the government develop "an emergency infrastructure expansion plan for overcrowded urban and peri-urban schools".

"The plan must also include a purposive approach to bridging the 25 per cent gap between primary and JHS while providing new schools for underserved communities".

"The government must deploy desks to all the 2.3 million pupils in underserved schools", the report added.

It urged the government to pursue partnerships with the Forestry Commission and the private sector in that regard.