General News of Monday, 30 November 2009

Source: GNA

Vice President Affirms Government Commitment to Education

Keta, Nov. 30, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama has reaffirmed the commitment of government to continue funding the education sector to ensure quality and equity education as a key to national development. He said the task was enormous and called on all stakeholders to lend their support to ensure the turning out of efficient human resource base for the country.

Vice President Mahama said this in an address on his behalf by Ms. Naana Biney, Deputy Director General of the Ghana Education Service, at celebrations marking the 70th Anniversary of the Keta Business Senior High School (KETA BUSCO) under the theme: "70 Years of quality education - prospects and challenges" at the weekend at Keta.

"The responsibility on government in providing for education is so huge and therefore requires all stake holders to contribute to the efforts," he said.

Vice President Mahama, paying tribute to the founder of the school, the late Rev. Adolphus Fiagbedzi, said "it was not therefore out of place to demand of old students to plough back into the very institutions that contributed to their current status and well being."

The Ghanaian youth, he said, required the type of education and skills that would make them to compete favourably in the world that has become a small place due to technological advancement.

The Vice President said the government would provide the environment to enable the youth to meet those challenges and advised the youth to avoid all negative practices that would detract their attention from their books. He praised the staff, the current and old students for the successes they had achieved.

Dr. Ernest Awanta, the Dean of Students of the University of Winneba, said quality education could only thrive in a healthy environment with the right teacher and student motivation and a teacher quality. Mr. Augustine Akpakli, the Headmaster, said starting as an evening school with a single student, the school now has 930 students and appealed to government to come to the aid of the school with a bus, classrooms, dormitory blocks and staff bungalows.