Ghana’s struggle to complete and utilise senior high school infrastructure is emerging as a major fiscal burden, even as the government allocates billions of cedis annually to sustain Free Senior High School reforms and phase out the double-track system. The accumulation of abandoned projects, idle completed structures, and large arrears to contractors continues to weaken the economic value of public investments, according to Auditor-General reports, GETFund approvals, and recent ministerial statements.
Billions Allocated to Fix Schools
The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) remains the main channel for capital financing, with GH¢10.385 billion approved for the 2025 fiscal year. Of this amount, GH¢3.20 billion is earmarked for settling arrears and reactivating stalled and abandoned projects. In the previous fiscal cycle, GH¢3.934 billion was approved in 2024 to restart 3,606 dormant projects across senior high schools, technical institutes, and colleges of education.
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has defended the scale of these allocations as necessary to restore stability to the system. “Next year, under the Reset Agenda of President Mahama, the government will spend GH¢1 billion of GETFund to deal with expanded infrastructure to respond to the double-track system,” he said. Justifying the urgent investment, he noted challenges within schools, saying, “learning resources and aids are not even available for you.” He added that the government remains committed to eliminating overcrowding, emphasising that “we remain committed to ending the double-track system … Whatever it is, Free SHS is here to stay.”
Audit Reveals Delayed and Idle Projects
Despite these commitments, credible audits continue to highlight significant inefficiencies. The Auditor-General’s reviews show that the problem is not limited to newly stalled projects but includes a larger backlog from previous years. A consolidated audit of pre-tertiary institutions revealed 96 abandoned or delayed GETFund-sponsored projects across 38 institutions, alongside four completed GETFund-funded structures that have never been put to use. These unused projects , including classroom blocks, dormitories, and ancillary facilities , were completed but left idle due to administrative lapses, absent handover processes, or lack of utility connections.
The audit further emphasised that many of the abandoned facilities lacked essential documentation such as valid contracts, architectural drawings, or bills of quantities. The absence of proper documentation complicates re-awarding and reactivating the projects, prolonging abandonment and diminishing the value of earlier investments.
Beyond these cases, a nationwide Auditor-General assessment identified 62 completed but idle government facilities valued at GH¢52.9 million, reflecting a broader pattern of non-utilisation across sectors. In the SHS system, instances such as SDA Senior High School at Akim Sekyere, where a completed dining hall and toilet block were never handed over, demonstrate the recurring nature of the problem.
These unresolved losses represent direct fiscal leakage, as completed structures begin to deteriorate without delivering educational or economic value.
Losses Strain Public Finances
The financial losses tied to stalled and unused school infrastructure tighten fiscal space at a time when education spending is rising sharply. The government is expected to spend about GH¢5 billion on Free SHS in 2025, and inefficiencies in capital investment amplify the budgetary pressure. Funds that could have improved dormitory capacity, science labs, classroom blocks, and learning resources instead remain locked in abandoned concrete structures.
From a macroeconomic perspective, these inefficiencies reduce the productivity of public investment and weaken Ghana’s fiscal credibility. They can heighten investor perceptions of public-sector execution risk, influence future borrowing terms, and reduce the efficiency of debt-funded capital expenditure.
The opportunity cost is substantial. If even a portion of the abandoned or unused projects were operational, many schools facing severe congestion could have expanded capacity without requiring additional emergency spending. Instead, the government must divert resources into arrears clearance and re-award processes, delaying quality improvements and prolonging reliance on the double-track system.
Infrastructure Gaps Risk Fiscal Efficiency
The need for expanded SHS infrastructure remains acute. Enrolment growth driven by Free SHS continues to outpace capacity in many schools, particularly in dormitories, laboratories, classroom blocks, and teaching resources. The education minister has acknowledged systemic gaps, noting that stalled projects across colleges of education have had their contracts terminated and will be re-awarded “to reflect the real and meaningful value to encourage contractors to go to the site to complete the projects.”
Yet without structural reforms to project oversight, documentation management, and handover protocols, the risk of repeated inefficiencies remains high. The combination of high expenditure and recurring infrastructure wastage continues to undermine Ghana’s economic efficiency and weakens the potential of education to serve as a long-term productivity catalyst.
