Adongo Defends $300m World Bank Loan as Bet on Secondary Education Expansion

The government has pushed back against opposition claims that it is borrowing to keep Ghana’s Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme afloat, insisting that a proposed US$300 million World Bank facility is aimed at expanding access to secondary education rather than financing the policy itself.

Speaking during parliamentary deliberations on the agreement, Isaac Adongo, Chairman of Parliament’s Finance Committee and MP for Bolgatanga Central, argued that the loan would tackle structural weaknesses that have constrained secondary education for years. The investment, he said, is designed to eliminate the double-track system, upgrade school infrastructure and improve the quality of teaching and learning nationwide.

His remarks came after the Minority accused the government of resorting to fresh borrowing to sustain Free SHS, portraying the request as evidence of fiscal strain following Ghana’s exit from the IMF-supported programme.

Adongo rejected that interpretation, stressing that the financing is intended to improve access to free secondary education rather than pay for the policy’s recurring costs.

Under the proposed financing package, US$257.7 million would be channelled into expanding equitable access to secondary education through infrastructure improvements and increased school capacity. A further US$33.8 million is earmarked to enhance the quality and relevance of secondary education, while US$8.5 million would strengthen education systems, communications and evidence-based policymaking.

The Ghanaian government is expected to contribute an additional US$23 million in counterpart funding to support the implementation of the programme.

The debate underscores the growing political contest over how Ghana should finance education reforms while maintaining fiscal discipline in the post-IMF era, with the government framing the loan as a long-term investment in educational capacity rather than an operational subsidy for Free SHS.