Government appreciates effort of religious bodies-Baah-Wiredu

Wenchi (B/A) March 1, GNA - Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, at the weekend said government appreciated efforts being made by religious bodies to provide educational facilities to enhance teaching and learning in the country.

He said: "Government has always recognized with appreciation efforts of faith-based institutions in their partnership with government to provide academic facilities throughout the country". This was contained in an address read for the Minister by Mr Ato Essuman, Chief Director of the Ministry at the 40th anniversary celebration of Wenchi Secondary School, at Wenchi.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said he acknowledged the contribution of the Methodist Church of Ghana to national development through whose efforts the School was established and also commended the Church for building a hospital at Wenchi.

He said: "We trust that this state-church partnership will continue in the years ahead". The Minister said the NPP government had channelled resources into the provision of quality education for all Ghanaians. He cited that in order to improve access to education, 685 three-unit classrooms each with toilet facilities, urinal, teachers' common room, store and library were built across the country.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said 420 of the classrooms were built in the Upper West, Upper East and Northern regions, adding that work 440 six-unit classroom blocks were on going.

He said government had procured and supplied teaching and learning materials to the tune of 20.7 billion cedis for basic schools and 65 billion cedis for senior secondary school.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said to bridge the gap between schools in deprived areas and the well-endowed urban schools, government would upgrade one senior secondary school in each of the 110 district in the country. He said work on the first batch of 31 schools had begun and was progressing steadily and satisfactorily.

Mr Baah-Weridu said the second phase of the programme would involve 25 schools and that 52 billion cedis would be spent to upgrade facilities in these schools.

He said government considered teachers' role in ensuring quality education as crucial, and would this year, provide bicycles, radio sets and accommodation and other incentives to encourage teachers to accept postings to deprived areas.

Mr Baah-Weridu said the Ministry had provided the national science resource centre with computers and accessories at the cost of 2.0 billion cedis to facilitate the upgrading of computer skills of teachers.

Similarly, some selected senior secondary schools would be provided with well-equipped computer laboratories at a cost of 3.0 billion cedis, the Minister said.

Mr Baah-Wiredu appealed to teachers at the school "to stand up to the challenges of today, fight all odds and continue to give off their best both in the academic and moral training of the students". Mr Essuman on behalf of the Minister presented a 29-inch closured television set and a video deck to the school.

The Reverend Ama Afo Blay, Director General of Ghana Education Service, said national focus was on turning out well-educated and disciplined young men and women to serve in responsible positions thus strengthening the manpower base for national development. She said development should not mean the provision of infrastructure alone, but it also included bringing up students to become disciplined, academically good, spiritually, physically and morally sound.

The headmaster, Mr Sam Bannerman-Mensah, appealed to past students of the school, individuals and organisations to assist the school to complete its development projects, including an assembly hall, administration block and staff accommodation. 01 March 04