Kufour reiterates commitment to Polytechnic education

Koforidua, Oct. 15, GNA- President John Agyekum Kufuor on Saturday re-echoed his commitment towards a successful implementation of the Polytechnic education system in Ghana and rejected assertions that the Government was seeking to change the system.

"The Government of the New Patriotic Party will surely never dream of that", said the President in a speech read for him by Mr Kwame Twumasi Ampofo, a Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sports at the Fourth Congregation of the Koforidua Polytechnic held at Koforidua on Saturday.

Five hundred and seventy students who completed their studies at the Polytechnic by 2004 were presented with their Higher National Diploma certificates with three candidates acquiring First Class Honours.

According to President Kufour, the Polytechnic educational system, like other forms of tertiary education, required a period of time to reach maturation.

He explained that it was Government's willingness to see the Polytechnics succeed hence the arrangement of alternative sources of funds for them in addition to resources being allocated to them by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).

President Kufuor said the Government was determined to make the Polytechnics, schools of choice and appealed to stakeholders in the Polytechnics to exercise restrain when agitating for better conditions of service and refrain from giving the impression that Government does not care.

He challenged workers to be abreast with the Labour Law so that in their attempt to seek for their rights, they do not abuse the rights of others as spelt out in the relevant labour laws of the state.

President Kufour challenged the graduates to deploy the skills they have acquired to help create jobs that would expand the employment base of the nation than seeking to join the "no job chorus".

The Chairman of the Governing Council of the Polytechnic, Prof. Sir Kwabena Boakye Yiadom, called for a revision of the Polytechnic Law of 1992 to make it more relevant to the needs of the country.

He said the school had launched a strategic plan, the most expensive in its history that seeks to make it a leader in information communication and technology for development.