Africa's under development due to indiscipline

Apam (C/R), Feb. 27, GNA - Dr Ishmael Yamson, Chairman of the University of Ghana Council, has attributed Africa's under development to indiscipline.

"The problems we face in Africa including poverty, squalor, deprivation, famine, disease, largely emanates from the indiscipline, which we see everywhere.

It manifests itself in corruption, in the neglect of duty, in careless dissipation of public funds, in graft, in ostentation, and in many acts, which make us poorer everyday".

In a speech delivered at the 53rd Founders Day and Speech and Prize-giving Day of Apam Secondary School at the weekend, Dr Yamson said he learnt in Nigeria early this week that a Governor of a state had stolen 20 million dollars, which could have provided several homes in his state for thousands of poor people. "But that man has no morals and values and did not care about his people when he was stealing the money for his own benefit, yet his state is the poorest in Nigeria".

He added that, there were many of such examples throughout the continent.

The theme for the occasion was Discipline the Bedrock of Academic Excellence.

"So indiscipline should be a matter of great concern to us all students, teachers, parents, business leaders and civil societies". Dr Yamson, an old student of the school, said being disciplined was building a life of quality and a life of excellence. He said discipline required that, "we lived by values and morals, which allow us to pursue excellence".

Dr Yamson said "a disciplined life librates the mind to pursue excellence, it simply gets you out of trouble. He said a student, who did his homework would have more time to focus on the day's work than the one who did not do the work, he would be spending considerable time avoiding the eyes of the teacher, while wondering what was going to happen to him.

Dr Yamson said discipline stood on three legs, the students the teachers and the parents and added that, for students to become disciplined, there was the need for their parents and teachers to be disciplined.

Ms Joyce Aidoo, Gomoa DCE said the government has realised the need for education, hence its priority on human resource development. It was for that reason that the President introduced the Distance Learning programme. The DCE pledged to donate a trophy to the school to be competed for in quiz or essay competitions, as a measure to entice the students to learn.

She said with effect from 2005/2006 academic year, the District Assembly would sponsor any student, who obtained the best results to pursue tertiary education in any of the institution in the country. Ms Aidoo was not happy with the 2005 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination results of the school and admonished the students to learn hard, reminding them that, "if you fail to learn, you learn to fail".

She appealed to the teachers and the parents to play their roles effectively to encourage the students to learn. Mr Archibold Fuah, the Headmaster of the school reported that the school was negotiating to link up with some foreign schools and colleges for exchange programmes to broaden the horizon of both the staff and the students.

Mr Fuah said the school excelled in sports, placing first in both boys and girls divisions in the inter school zonal athletics. The school produced the best athlete in both boys and girls divisions in the super zonal competition held at Cape Coast, where the school won the over all first position.

He said in another zonal competition held at Winneba last week, the school came first in both boys and girls divisions and won the overall championship trophy.

The headmaster catalogued the needs of the school, which included Construction of additional staff bungalows and rehabilitation of the existing ones, provision of a clinic with a qualified nurse, a cold store for storing food items, assembly hall, a bus and rehabilitation and stocking of the school library.

Master Michael Agroh, the Head Prefect said the school scored 42.6 per cent in 2002, 52.8 per cent in 2003, 74.3 per cent in 2004 and 76.3 per cent in 2005 in the SSCE.

Mr Daniel Owiredu, Chief Operations Officer of Anglogold-Ashanti, who presided, said education in itself was a disciplined activity. "Indeed education and discipline are mutually exclusive, since without one you could not have the other," he stated. Mr Owiredu, a son of the late Dr P.A. Owiredu, the second and the longest serving headmaster of the school said the school's motto, "Obra Paa Gya Owura Kwan" should guide every students of the school to place premium on discipline.

He appealed to people, who were set in authority over students both at home and on campus to desist from acts, which would frustrate the students.

"In all cases the right examples should be set for the guidance of our youth, who are desperately looking for such good role models". he added.

Prizes were given to deserving students and staff.