Modern technical institutes for each region

Accra, March 9, GNA-As part of the educational reforms, government intends to build at least four modern technical institutes in each region.

Government white paper on the reforms recommendations also aims at providing a compulsory one year apprenticeship to all Junior Secondary School (JSS) leavers who would opt out to pursue programmes in vocational or technical education, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Minister of Education, Science and Sports, said these in Parliament on Friday in response to a question.

He said the National Vocational Training Institute and the Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment would expand work on 29 vocational institutions to cater for the large number of JSS leavers produced annually who could not gain access to secondary education. He said the goal was to establish one well-resourced vocational institute in every district.

"In pursuance of the above policy objective, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports and the Ghana Education Service are developing the appropriate time frame during, which every district will come on board," the Minister added.

Responding to another question on when the Goka Secondary/Technical School in the Brong Ahafo region would get a science laboratory, the Minister said vision of government was to achieve a ratio of 60:40 in favour of science-based courses in secondary and tertiary institutions. Papa Owusu-Ankomah said government had started a programme of providing well resources science laboratories for all secondary schools. "A study has also been conducted by the University College of Winneba and the findings will be used to upgrade the science resource centers in the secondary schools."

The Minister also told Parliament in response to another question that the Zebilla Secondary/Technical School in the Upper East region has been selected for upgrading into a model school. He said the upgrading involves a number of projects, including the construction of a new computer centre and a 12-seater water closet toilet, valued at a cost of about 1.9 billion cedis.