The Parliament of Ghana has officially approved a $300 million concessional loan facility from the World Bank's International Development Association to finance a massive upgrade of secondary school infrastructure across the country. 

The decision was finalized directly on the floor of Parliament following the presentation and thorough deliberation of a report by the parliamentary joint committees. 

This significant financial injection will fund the Secondary Education Transformation for Access, Relevance and Results for Jobs Project, targeting structural deficits and aiming to completely eliminate the double-track system.

According to the parliamentary committee's report, a vast majority of the total loan—amounting to $257.7 million—is strictly ring-fenced for physical infrastructure development. 

The Ministry of Education will deploy this capital to execute several nationwide projects including the construction of 10 new senior high schools in underserved districts and the comprehensive renovation of 150 existing schools. 

Additionally, the funds will be used to elevate 30 Category C schools to Category B, upgrade 20 Category B schools to Category A, complete previously abandoned E-Block structures, and expand furniture supplies across the country.

During the parliamentary debate, leadership from both sides of the aisle weighed in heavily on the implementation of the project. 

Dismissing assertions that the funds would be absorbed into operational costs, the Chairman of Parliament's Finance Committee, Isaac Adongo, clarified the explicit bounds of the facility, stating that the proposed loan is intended strictly to strengthen and expand secondary education infrastructure and improve access across the country. 

He emphasised that the loan has been designed to address longstanding challenges within Ghana's secondary education sector including eliminating the double-track system. 

Supporting the motion, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, assured the house that the massive loan would be implemented with strict adherence to value-for-money principles to protect the public purse and deliver high-standard facilities.