Technical education is not for never-do-well

Obuasi, Dec 2, GNA - Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, has urged parents to disabuse their minds that technical education is meant for the "never-do-wells".

He said technical education gives students skills to be able to understand the scientific principles involved in the operations of machinery and equipment they would be exposed to.

The Minister was commissioning the Obuasi Secondary Technical School VOTEC Resource Centre Project at Obuasi, on Monday.

Mr. Baah-Wiredu appealed to parents to send their wards to technical schools to enable them to contribute to the development of the nation.

"No nation can progress along the path of socio-economic, cultural and political development without skilled human resource base".

"Indeed, if our dear country is to be able to tackle and overcome the numerous problems militating against our orderly development then it is obligatory on our part to provide our people especially the youth with appropriate skills and know-how," the Minister said.

Mr Baah-Wiredu expressed happiness that the poor public perception about vocational education, which was deeply rooted in the history of the nation's educational system, was gradually giving way to a more positive perception. He said it was the hope of the government to establish more technical institutes so that at least each district would have one.

Mr. Baah-Wiredu said the idea was to ensure that the youth were provided with vocational and technical skills that would help to transform the country into an industrially prosperous one in the shortest possible time.

Nana James Oppong, Headmaster, said the school was strategically selected and would operate technical programmes in addition to the existing programmes to produce the skilled human resource needed in the area.

He said the VOTEC Centre had started operating this academic year with an intake of 87 students including a girl offering electrical installation and electronics.

The Headmaster appealed to the government and the Ghana Education Service to release funds for the relevant training and educational materials required for the centre.

The Ghana Government and the Netherlands are implementing the VOTEC Resource Centre project as one of the initiatives to develop and promote technical/vocational education and training at the pre-tertiary level.