Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Clement Apaak, has raised the red flag over the construction of school buildings without toilet facilities, describing the practice as a glaring failure in Ghana’s education infrastructure system.

He made the remarks on Monday, January 12, when he appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee to respond to concerns surrounding school projects financed through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

Dr Apaak said the discovery that some schools are being built without basic sanitation should trouble every stakeholder in the education sector, as it exposes serious weaknesses in planning, supervision and compliance with minimum infrastructure standards.

According to him, the absence of toilet facilities in such projects is not just a design flaw but a public health and dignity issue that affects both pupils and teachers.

“Sanitation is fundamental to the health, safety and dignity of everyone in our schools,” the Deputy Minister stressed, adding that no learning environment can be considered complete without proper toilet facilities.

He assured the committee that the Ministry of Education has taken note of the lapses and will take firm steps to ensure that all future school projects—whether funded by GETFund or the MMDAs—include adequate sanitation facilities.

“The issues raised by the honourable member should be of grave concern to all of us. They clearly expose gaps in the system, but we are committed to fixing them going forward,” Dr Apaak said.

His comments come amid growing public pressure for tighter monitoring and stricter enforcement of standards to ensure that school infrastructure projects truly serve the needs of students and educators.