Let us endeavour to make freedom in the constitution viable - Aliu

Mampong-Ashanti, Nov. 12, GNA 96 Vice President Aliu Mahama on Saturday said freedom provided in the constitution could only be viable when Ghanaians realized their limitations.

He said 93At the heart of democratic choice is self-restraint and voluntary compliance. Beyond that is institutional restraint." Alhaji Mahama made the observation at a grand durbar to climax activities marking the 60th anniversary celebration of Saint Monica's Secondary School at Asante Mampong in the Ashanti Region. The theme for the celebration was "60 years of Quality Girl-Child Education." He commended members of National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) for returning to the classroom and urged them to exhibit good faith in the pursuit of peaceful and speedy resolution of differences. On the theme of the celebration, Alhaji Mahama said the task of nation building required collective effort and stressed the need for girl-child education to facilitate Ghana's forward march towards attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at addressing pertinent development challenges of Ghana by 2015. Alhaji Mahama said "The task of nation building is gender neutral. The art of nation building requires the collective effort of both men and women in bringing about the good things in life that we desire for ourselves."

"Education is not only about infrastructure, it has more to do with the training within the building. There is the need for self-discipline and its application."

Alhaji Mahama asked students to desist from acts of indiscipline such as lack of respect for authority and vandalism. Mrs Dorothy Ama Mensah Ofei, Headmistress said the school which started with 16 girls now had 1,400 students.

She commended the school's PTA for providing five semi-detached bungalows, a 33-seater bus, electricity generator, fully equipped computer laboratory and a fence wall to keep off encroachers. Mrs Ofei announced that a four billion cedi education fund had been established to expand infrastructure on campus. Miss Sandra Owusu, Girls Prefect appealed to stakeholders in education to provide the school with a well-stocked library, a large sick bay, a nurse to man the dispensary and separate halls for dinning and church service. Alhaji Mahama donated 20 million cedis as seed money for the fund.