Government to implement more educational programmes this year - Mills

Accra, Feb. 25, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills on Thursday announced that the government would this year implement more educational programmes to raise the standards of education in the country. He mentioned the refurbishing of science resource centres in schools, provision of infrastructural facilities in Senior Secondary Schools, the removal of schools under trees and the elimination of the school shift system.

President Mills announced this during his State of the Nation Address at the Parliament House in Accra.

He said he had ordered an investigation into the utilization of the GET-Fund in the past by calling for a review of the GET-Fund Act to achieve the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto of decentralizing the operations of the Board and the broadening of the Fund's activities to cover more educational institutions.

He said measures were underway to improve the status of teachers in the country, saying "At the end of the year, I expect the GNAT, NAGRAT and the UTAG to make separate pronouncements on whether the lot of teachers has improved under our administration or not."

On Housing, the President was not happy with the high rate of homelessness and streetism in the country, remaking that "In most countries of the world, housing for the lower and middle income groups is the responsibility of the Local Authorities, and Ghana should not be an exception."

He said beginning from this year, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies would be expected to invest a sizeable proportion of their Common Fund in rental housing for lower and middle income groups in the country. He gave the assurance that a National District Assemblies Rental Housing Project Task Force would be established to monitor the project throughout the country to solve the perennial homelessness and streetism in the country.

President Mills said he had also directed the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing to complete all the "affordable" housing projects the previous government started to solve the acute housing problem in the country.

On security, President Mills said there was a sharp drop in armed robbery and organized crime in the country, and commended the police and other security agencies for their efforts at fighting crime. He promised that government would continue to strengthen the human and logistics base of the security agencies for them to protect life and property to attract more investors into the country.