Haruna Iddrisu seeks GH¢100m for technical schools to tackle SHS bed shortages
St Paul’s Technical School in Kukurantumi would partner other technical schools to manufacture beds under the proposal. The minister says he has formally written to GETFund requesting the allocation.
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has asked GETFund to allocate GH¢100 million to support the production of beds by technical schools to tackle shortages in Ghana’s senior high schools.
Under the proposal, St Paul’s Technical School at Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region would partner two or three other schools to manufacture the beds.
Mr Iddrisu said he had formally written to GETFund requesting the allocation. He did not say whether the funding had been approved or give a date for production to begin.
Speaking on Accra-based Joy FM on Tuesday, October 13, in an interview monitored by Graphic Online, the minister outlined plans to use technical schools’ manufacturing capacity to address shortages of school furniture.
“It is my thinking that the GETFund should allocate GH¢100 million,” he said, proposing that the funding be dedicated to St Paul’s and its partner schools to produce beds.
Mr Iddrisu cited work he had seen the school undertake with GIZ as a basis for expanding its furniture production.
GETFund was already procuring desks for schools, he said, and adding beds could help address what he described as a widespread shortage of furniture.
Other technical schools with the capacity to manufacture furniture would also be considered.
The minister did not provide figures for the number of beds needed nationwide, how many the proposed funding would produce or which schools would receive them.
Additional funding sought for basic schools
Mr Iddrisu also said he had asked the Finance Minister to seek an additional US$200 million from the World Bank to support an integrated basic education model covering kindergarten through to junior high school.
That request is separate from the US$300 million approved by the World Bank on June 16, 2026, for the Secondary Education Transformation for Access, Relevance, and Results for Jobs project, known as STARR-J.
According to the minister, procurement under STARR-J had begun and would follow a competitive process.
The project is expected to finance 10 new model Category A senior high schools in deprived areas, upgrade about 100 existing schools and rehabilitate additional facilities.
It would also provide infrastructure for special needs schools, including facilities in Sunyani and Hohoe.
Mr Iddrisu cautioned that construction would take time, estimating that good-quality school facilities typically required between 12 and 18 months to complete.