Free SHS an antidote to developing Ghana’s human resources - Deputy Minister of Education

The Deputy Minister of Education in Charge of TVET, Gifty Twum Ampofo has revealed that the development of every nation should be partly measured by how it develops its human resources.

Gifty Twum Ampofo contends that the commitment shown by the government to invest
heavily in the Free SHS policy to develop the human resources of the country is a clear indication that Ghana is on the path of development and a signal of hope for the near future.

According to her, even though Ghana is endowed with a lot of natural resources like gold, diamond, cocoa, coffee, and many others, the most valuable among them all is to develop the human resources that will make good use of the naturally endowed resources of the country.

The Deputy Minister of Education said, "We have a lot of resources but the ultimate resources we need to develop without any class or limitation is our young individuals, and for that reason amidst all the challenges the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo introduced the free SHS".

"The Free SHS is a huge responsibility because in governance we need individuals who are well trained that we consider as assets to collectively turn the fortunes of any country round not to exchange our diamonds for beautiful pebbles".

“There are a lot of challenges and we appreciate that but it has increased a lot of intakes if not for the free SHS the numbers wouldn't have grown higher like this one which means the government has appreciated that we are stakeholders and we need to ensure that our young individuals are educated and ensure that teachers are employed and paid even though there is nothing you call enough money so the government is still working around the clock to ensure that collectively we do what we need to do to remold our young generation for them to be churned out properly, people that you could see that they are real assets".

She also urged all stakeholders in education to play their role effectively to complement the government's efforts.

Gifty Twum Ampofo disclosed her address during the 12th Speech and Prize-Giving Day and Fundraising ceremony at Presbyterian Senior High Technical School at Aburi in the Eastern Region.

The theme for the ceremony was, "Preparing The Next Generation For The Future; A Shared Responsibility For Stakeholders in Secondary Technical Schools".

Nana Opare Kwafo in his capacity as the board chairman of the School sponsored the best teacher's award with a deep freezer and further pledged GHC 22,000 towards the completion of the headmistress bungalow which is under construction.

On the part of the headmistress of the school, Joyce Appiah bemoaned that the school's participation in the National Science and Maths Quiz in the past decades lacks science equipment for effective practical teaching and learning.

She appealed to the government to assist the school's science lab with science equipment as well as a library since the school without such a facility negatively impacted the reading skills of the students.

Some award-winning male and female teachers shared their ordeals and what they described as challenging factors to them despite some successes gained.

They appealed for support in diverse ways regarding furniture, teachers’ bungalows, and science practical materials.