Minister speaks on education

Sokode-Etoe, Oct. 5, GNA - Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Education Youth and Sports at the weekend expressed disappointment at the continuing clamour by Ghanaians for the grammar type of education despite the overwhelming evidence that technical and vocational education held the key to faster national development. In an a speech read on his behalf at a durbar to climax the annual Yam Festival of the Chiefs and people of Sokode Traditional area at Sokode-Etoe in the Ho District, the Minister dismissed the notion that technical and vocational education was for drop-outs. He, therefore, called for bold steps to increase investment in technical and vocational education to reverse the trend.

Mr. Baah-Wiredu said there was some correlation between the level of technical know-how of a nation's human resource and its overall development, citing Japan, which has much less natural resources but was far developed than Africa with its abundant resources. He asked parents to support their wards attending school as day students by ensuring congenial atmosphere at home for studies. Focus of the festival this year, which is under the theme, "Secondary/Technical Education, a tool for Community Development", is to raise funds to support the Sokode Secondary/Technical School.

Mr Stephen Addey, Headmaster, said the school, which was founded in 1996, but absorbed into the public system in January 2001 was distressed, having to operate from an old four-room classroom block, part of which is used as Staff Common Room and Offices. He said though academic performance was not the best, the School's Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) result improved from 58 per cent in the 2000/2001 to 86 per cent in 2001/2002 academic years. He said because of the location of the school at the gateway to Ho, the Regional Capital, it is receiving high patronage and as at the end of the last academic year it enrolled 184 students and had 16 teaching and 10 non-teaching staff.

Mr Addey who said, currently, classes sometimes took place under the shade of trees, asked for assistance to complete an eight-unit classroom block, procure a vehicle and build a separate hostel for boys and girls. Mr Kofi Attoh, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ho-Central promised to procure computers and their accessories for the school by the end of November. He urged students to take their studies seriously, avoid wasting time on movies. He denounced some parents who spend more on funerals than on the school needs of the wards.

Mr. Amidu Sherif, a Counsellor at the Libyan Embassy, represented the Libyan Ambassador to Ghana, who was the special guest of honour. Mr. Leonard Kokoroko, Assembly Member for the area announced that a link-up between Sokode and the town of Baniwalid, in Libya, for mutual co-operation in all fields was in the offing. An appeal for funds yielded 12.2 million cedis.