Haruna Leads Ghana, Korea $28m Deal to Boost STEM Education

The Minister for Education, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of the Republic of Korea, through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), to advance digital STEM education across Ghana.

The agreement formalises the second phase of the Digital STEM Education Project, with Korea committing US$28 million to a six-year programme, dubbed “STEM for All” (D-STEM), running from 2026 to 2032 and set to reach hundreds of schools nationwide.

Under the new phase, the programme will expand STEM education to four regions, 12 districts, 713 schools, 1,426 teachers and 86 education circuits, with the Ashanti and Northern Regions joining the Central and Eastern Regions already covered under the project’s earlier phase.

Hon. Haruna Iddrisu said the expanded intervention will strengthen teachers’ digital capacity in STEM instruction, establish Smart Schools equipped with digital learning tools, support the construction of the Accra STEM Park, and enhance the Northern STEM Resource Centre, all aimed at ensuring more equitable access to quality STEM education across the country.

“I sincerely thank the Government and people of the Republic of Korea and KOICA for their unwavering partnership as we work together to build a future-ready education system for every Ghanaian child” Minister for Education, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu noted.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Hon. Iddrisu described education as the foundation of national development, and said the project would equip learners with critical digital skills through the introduction of robotics, coding, electronics and artificial intelligence at the basic education level.

He also used the occasion to announce a separate but related development, the Ministry will roll out a revised curriculum for kindergarten through junior high school before September 30, with digital education built in as a key component.

Taken together, the curriculum overhaul and the Korean-backed infrastructure investment point to a coordinated push to embed digital skills into basic education far earlier than has traditionally been the case in Ghana’s school system.

The Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Park Kyongsig, and KOICA Country Director Dong Hyun Lee both used the ceremony to reaffirm their governments’ commitment to partnering with Ghana on the project, pledging continued support to ensure its successful implementation and the advancement of digital STEM education for Ghanaian learners.

“STEM for All” is designed to close gaps in access to digital learning between regions, extending infrastructure and teacher training to districts that have historically lagged behind in STEM provision.

The emphasis on regional equity is notable: by folding in the Ashanti and Northern Regions, the second phase moves the project beyond its original Central and Eastern Region footprint and into areas where access to digital learning tools has traditionally trailed the rest of the country.

The MoU is the latest in a series of steps the Education Ministry has taken this year to reposition Ghana’s basic education system around digital and technical skills, alongside the planned kindergarten-to-JHS curriculum revision and other partnerships aimed at introducing emerging technologies into classrooms.

For KOICA, the investment builds on years of collaboration with Ghana’s education sector, having previously supported STEM-focused teaching methods that reached tens of thousands of junior high school students in mathematics and science before the current phase was signed.