Government to give prominence to IT in schools

KUMASI -- The government is to give prominence to Information Technology (IT) in schools as a way to accelerate development, Ms Christine Churcher, Minister of State for Basic, Secondary and Girl-Child Education said on Sunday.

She said Government's focus was to ensure that the requisite education was given to pupils and students to enable them meet present demands.

Ms Churcher was launching the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the St. Louis Secondary School in Kumasi.

Activities lined up as part of the one-year long celebration included fun fairs, clean up campaigns, fraternity games, quiz competitions, fund-raising activities including dinner dances.

"The World is steadily moving away from mere 'literacy and numeracy,' to practical technological skills and human-centered activities, which every educated person must possess, to cope with the demands of the time," Ms Churcher said.

She commended the Catholic Church for its contribution to education in the country saying, "the most significant feature of the church's role in education is that it has never lost sight of the importance of girl-child education."

Miss Churcher said this was evident in the 10 girls secondary schools run by the church out of the 20 public girls senior secondary schools in the country.

Mr. S. K. Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister, gave the assurance that although the Government inherited an impoverished economy, it would not shirk its responsibility of providing the requisite resources for the enhancement of girl-child education.

Mr. Boafo cautioned heads of educational institutions in the region against the imposition of high school fees that would be beyond the means of poor parents.

"For God's sake and the sake of our dear children, let us desist from acts which tend to make quality basic education the preserve of only the rich in society," the Regional Minister advised.

Rt. Rev. Joseph Osei Bonsu, Bishop Chairman of Education for the Catholic Bishops Conference said catholic schools did not only focus on the acquisition of knowledge, but more importantly to instill sound moral values in students and the ability to discover truth at all levels of society.

Madam Joana Johnson, Headmistress of the school complained about the lack of adequate infrastructural facilities, which had hindered efforts to increase intake.

She appealed to the Ministry of Education to consider the school's request for assistance in the provision of a 10-unit classroom block to enable the school admit more students.

The Rt. Rev. Bishop Peter Akwasi Sarpong, Bishop of Kumasi who presided, commended the school for not recording any students' demonstration during its 50 years of existence, and urged them to work harder to sustain the achievement.