Prof. Ansu-Kyeremeh calls for establishment of girl's only technical

school.

Aboadze (W/R), Oct. 22, GNA - Professor Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh, Director of the School of Communication Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, has called for the establishment of a girl's only technical school where auto mechanics, masonry, plumbing and electronics would be the main subjects.

"My reason for advocating for an all girls technical institute is to encourage our girls and women to internalise the values of technical knowledge while at the same time demystifying any prevailing myths that technical skills are the preserve of males," he explained.

Prof. Ansu-Kyeremeh said these at the presentation of the 2004/2005 Takoradi International Company (TICO) Kramer scholarships awards at Aboadze near Takoradi on Friday.

He said the country has not paid much attention to the development of technical education as has been done to academic and vocational education.

Prof. Ansu-Kyeremeh said while there are 474 senior secondary schools (SSS) with an enrolment of 240,000 in the country, there are only 23 technical institutes with a total population of 18,672, representing a ratio of 13 to 1.

He said the SSS would utilise 13.9 per cent of the 2004 budget for education, while technical and vocational institutions would share 1.6 per cent.

"For a nation, which seeks to industrialise and achieve a middle income status in the next few years, this is highly inadequate investment in human capital required for the task ahead" he stressed.

Prof. Ansu-Kyeremeh stressed that girls need technical education as a tool to empower them to aspire for higher positions in the Information, Communication and Technological (ICT) programmes He expressed regret that the proliferation of radio and television expected to provide quality programme content and matching business with social responsibility, many of them have failed to deliver on quality. Prof. Ansu-Kyeremeh therefore, called on the media to be professional, do more research, apply basic ethical standards and generate information for the good of the country.

Mr Marshall Pendergrass, General Manager of TICO said the company would disburse 60 million cedis to 23 students in various categories of the educational system in Ghana this year.

He said the programme, which started in 2001 forms part of the social responsibility of the company and also aimed at enhancing the educational, health and socio-economic well being of the people in the catchment's area of the company.

Madam Sophia Horner-Sam, Deputy Western Regional Minister said the country has the manpower, which needs to be resourced to meet the needs of the country. She appealed to other companies to emulate TICO. Miss Jennifer Anderson, spokesperson for the beneficiaries thanked the management of TICO for the support and pledged to work hard. 22 Oct. 04