The National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has revealed the total number of schools under trees that were eliminated by the Mills/ Mahama administration.
According to him, during the tenure of the Mills/ Mahama National Democratic Congress (NDC) governments, significant strides were made in eradicating the issue of schools operating under inadequate conditions, particularly those conducted under trees. The elimination of these schools was a priority, with a concerted effort to improve educational infrastructure across Ghana.
1. Under the initial term of the NDC government, approximately 1,700 schools conducted under trees were successfully eradicated. This information was initially disclosed to the media in November 2012 by the then Deputy Minister for Information, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, relying on data from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND). These figures pertained to schools under trees eradicated between the years 2009 and 2013.
2. President Mahama reiterated this fact during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) presented to Parliament on January 4, 2013. He highlighted that 40% of the approximately 4,000 schools under trees reported at the time had been eliminated.
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3. Subsequently, the NDC/Mahama administration embarked on a mission to eliminate the remaining 60% of schools under trees. By 2016, as documented in the Green Book for the Education sector published by the NDC, 2,031 of the remaining 60% had been eliminated. This information is detailed on page 66 of the NDC’s Green Book titled: “FOUR YEARS OF EQUITABLE ACCESS TO QUALITY EDUCATION (2013-2016).”
4. The figures presented in the 2016 budget statement and the accompanying Green Book were indicative of the total number of schools under trees eradicated during the NDC’s second term in office, spanning from 2013 to 2016.
5. Consequently, it is incontrovertible that a cumulative total of over 3,000 schools under trees were eliminated during the tenure of the NDC government from 2009 to 2016. To suggest that only more than 2,000 schools under trees were eradicated by the NDC during this period is a conservative estimate and does not contradict the comprehensive efforts undertaken. It is essential that our counterparts in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) acknowledge these achievements rather than disputing them.