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The Government has announced plans to construct 600 new basic school facilities across Ghana as part of efforts to eliminate the long-standing issue of schools operating under trees.
Deputy Minister for Education, Clement Apaak, disclosed that the initiative will involve the construction of 200 Junior High Schools (JHS), 200 Kindergarten (KG) blocks, and 200 Primary School blocks to address infrastructure deficits largely driven by rapid population growth.
Dr. Apaak made the announcement during a courtesy call by 52 top Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) awardees. He explained that many communities, due to increasing population and inadequate infrastructure planning, have been compelled to establish makeshift schools, resulting in thousands of pupils studying under trees.
According to him, the current administration inherited more than 5,000 such makeshift schools and is taking deliberate steps to eliminate the phenomenon nationwide.
The Deputy Minister noted that the commitment was reaffirmed by President John Dramani Mahama during the State of the Nation Address and is backed by allocations in the 2026 Budget.
“As I speak, there are many parts of the country where we have sufficient populations for schools to start, and because, as a state, we are not paying heed to population growth, the communities themselves come together and start a school, and that is how schools-under-trees come to be,” Dr. Apaak said.
“We inherited in excess of 5,000 such schools under trees, and we are making a concerted effort to address this phenomenon. We are going to be constructing 200 JHS, 200 KGs, and 200 primary school blocks,” he added.
The initiative is expected to improve access to safe and conducive learning environments for pupils across the country.
