Members of Council of Colleges sworn in

Tamale, Oct. 12, GNA - Members of the Interim Council of the Colleges of the Tamale, Bagaba and Bimbilla Colleges of Education, were on Tuesday sworn into office by the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba.

Mr Huudu Yahaya, a National Vice-Chairperson of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), is the Chairman of the 11 member council of the Tamale College of Education, while the Bagaba and Bimbilla Councils are chaired by Dr Yehuza Gomda and Adam Marshall respectively. Mr Mabengba said the Interim Councils were being inaugurated ahead of the Education Bill 2010 by Parliament to enable the colleges to meet their performance targets.

He said governments' position was that management should be very critical to the functioning of these institutions and thus the current vacuum needed to be filled. Mr Mabengba, who represented President John Evans Atta Mills at the ceremony, told the council members that government was counting on their knowledge, skills and experiences over the years to measure up to their new status and deliver on the objectives set for them. He reminded the council members that the programmes they would be required to choose for the colleges must dovetail into governments' policy of investment in the people. He said the NDC Government, from its socialist view point, had pursued human-centred programmes aimed at improving the well being of Ghanaians.

Mr Mabengba said it was in line with this that the youth in the country had been the major target of many interventions citing the launch of the National Youth Policy as a clear example of government's commitment to put the youth in their rightful place in the country. Alhaji Yakubu Bukari, Principal of the Tamale College of Education, gave the assurance that the principals of the three Colleges of Education would cooperate and support the Council to function effectively for their development. He said the principals and staff of the colleges had over the past few years worked hard to ensure the successful take off of the Diploma in Basic Education Programme in their various institutions. Alhaji Bukari said the first three groups of the Regular Diploma Programme for 2007, 2008 and 2009 had passed out successfully and were presently teaching at the basic schools. He said the Untrained Teachers Diploma in Basic Education (UTTDBE) and the Sandwich Diploma in Basic Education Programme for Certificate "A" teachers had also been executed well in the colleges in the Northern Region. He said about 2,620 UTTDBE students passed out successfully last year while 98 per cent of the 820 sandwich students passed to obtain the Diploma in Basic Education. 12 Oct. 10