President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has simultaneously commissioned the refurbished Saint Barnabas Anglican Junior High School in Accra and 80 other educational infrastructure constructed across the country.
While the President was inaugurating the refurbished school at Osu, a suburb of Accra, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia was inaugurating the newly constructed Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at Kpesimkpe in the North East Region.
The educational projects form part of the government's strategy to improve access to quality education for diverse students across the country.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony on Thursday, President Akufo-Addo expressed hope that every Ghanaian child would continue to have access to the resources and opportunities they deserved.
The President emphasised that the initiative covered a wide range of educational needs, from basic schools to senior high schools and technical institutions.
Recounting the story of Saint Barnabas Anglican School, he said it resonated deeply with his desire to see education become the centre of the country's development.
"For over six decades, the school stood in the heart of Accra as a beacon of education. Yet, it suffered from neglect. The school has not seen any major renovation since its establishment on 1st November 1961.
The classrooms were deteriorated with broken windows, leaking roofs and learning spaces unfit for children," he said.
After the facelift, however, the transformed St Barnabas school is now equipped with modern facilities designed to meet the demands of 21st-century education.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
President Akufo-Addo said that St Barnabas School has just not classrooms with new paints and ceilings but also a place of possibilities, "where dreams would be nurtured and talents discovered. "
Ghanaian children, according to the President, deserved the best and encouraged parents, teachers and community leaders to ensure that they have the support they need to succeed.
The Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum, said the government had done much in the education sector, stressing, "There are similar events taking place across the 16 regions of the country."
He said the government's dedication to modernising educational infrastructure and promoting academic excellence is unmatched.
Dr Adutwum described the improvements in infrastructure as a cornerstone of the NPP's vision for national development, stressing that, "We cannot educate 21st-century students in 19th-century buildings and expect 21st-century outcomes, it is not going to work and you can see pictures of children who are excited about what change means here today."
Comparing Ghana's current trajectory with South Korea's, he said it was the same approach of educational transformation which had propelled South Korea's remarkable economic transformation.
"The story of South Korea is fascinating. In 1960, our per capita income was higher than in South Korea but they did different things when they allowed secondary education to be extended to their people in the 1960s and 1970s. They did not stop there but they also embarked on STEM education in the 1970s.
We are 50 years behind, but at least we have begun and definitely, the evidence available is going to tell the story of how the journey for STEM transformation began," he emphasised.
