A year ago, the Minister of Education Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum announced to the applaud of Ghanaians, the construction of 300 bed hostels in all public Colleges of Education to be handed over by August 2023. The GHC 485 million project was to be funded by GETFund.
At conception, the Minister of Education was in the best position to fully appreciate that GETFund was an unreliable funding source for such huge projects within the one -year announced timelines, due to the capping by the Minister of Finance with support from our Parliament.
Four months to August 2023, our checks in the Colleges indicate that about 20 out 46 Colleges are yet to see a contractor. The remaining 26 are still at foundation level, with contractors abandoning sites in some instances.
The saddest story is at the Bagabaga College of Education in Tamale, where a roofed 400-bed hostel which started about 10 years ago has been abandoned, while the new 300 bed hostel project is also stuck at foundation level.
Couldn’t the cash spent on the abandoned foundation be used to complete the abandoned, roofed one?
Do you realize how the government’s mismanagement of the GETFund Levy and politicized procurement leading to abandoned projects destroys our education system at all levels?
The Minister of Education must brief stakeholders on the progress of work on the 300 bed hostels in the Colleges, as we approach the August handover deadline and announce a rescue plan.
The continued silence of leadership on this matter is not part of the solution.
