Sunyani (B/A) Sept. 16, GNA - Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, Minister of Education, on Wednesday inaugurated interim governing councils for three colleges in Sunyani, in the Brong Ahafo Region.

The three are the Berekum and the Atebubu College of Education and the St. Joseph College of Education at Bechem.

Most Reverend Peter Kwaku Atuahene, Catholic Bishop of Goaso, is the chairperson of the 13-member governing council of St. Joseph College of Education, whilst Mr Kwabena Yeboah and Hajia Zenabu Joyce are chairpersons respectively for Berekum and Atebubu Colleges of Education. Mr Tettey-Enyo said about 11 colleges were without principals or the position would soon become vacant but added recommendations had been made by the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) for their replacement.

He urged the council members to study the recommendations and take appropriate actions.

Mr Tettey-Enyo explained that as tertiary education institutions, colleges of education were enjoined to have governing councils to exercise oversight responsibilities.

He said the Colleges of Education Bill was being finalized at the office of the Attorney General for submission to Cabinet and thereafter to Parliament for approval.

The Minister said it had become necessary to put in place interim councils to enable the colleges to function effectively, pending the promulgation of the Bill into an Act of Parliament. Mr Tettey-Enyo explained that the councils had an important role to play in shaping the vision and mission of their respective institutions and to ensure their effective management.

The councils have specific oversight responsibilities of ensuring that the colleges' accounts were drawn up and audited, annual reports prepared and presented as well as ensuring that financial resources of the colleges were used for intended purposes, he said. Mr Tettey-Enyo told the council members that the NCTE would organise orientation workshops for them to discuss in detail their roles and responsibilities.

He emphasized that Government was very much aware of the fact that teacher education was central to any educational reform and gave assurance of its commitment to upgrade the colleges of education. Mr Eric Opoku, Deputy Regional Minister, expressed concern about the high level of indiscipline amongst students and pupils and advised teachers to lead upright lives.

He observed that the Government's Better Ghana Agenda would be a mirage if Ghana failed to produce quality human resource base and urged institutional heads to promote discipline in their various schools. Nana Professor Agyewodin Wereko Ampem, Paramount Chief of Acherensua and Chairman of the Ghana Education Service Council, who presided, asked politicians not to interfere in the work of the council members.

Justice Frank Yao Gbedey, a Sunyani District Court Judge took the council members through the oaths of allegiance and secrecy. In another development, Mr Tettey-Enyo on Tuesday visited and inspected on-going projects in some second cycle institutions in the region and challenged the contractors to speed up work in the provision of classroom blocks and dormitories for the smooth take off of the 2010/2011 academic year.

During the visit, construction work on the 12-unit classroom block at Chiraa Senior High and the six unit classroom blocks in Sunyani Senior High and Bechem Presbyterian Senior High Schools were steadily progressing.

He asked the institutional heads to submit regular situational reports on the works to the Ministry and monitor the contractors against shoddy works.

Mr Tettey-Enyo said Government was worried about inadequate classroom blocks and dormitories to accommodate new students in the academic year because of the introduction of the four-year duration period of the Senior High School by the previous government. This, he said, had necessitated the need to put immediate and temporal structures to enable the schools to admit new students. He asked the contractors to work hard to complete works on the projects at least by the end of October this year. The contractors assured the Minister to do their best to complete the projects in time.