Students urged not to resort to violence to back their demands

Akyem Wenchi, May 23, GNA - Mr Mohammed Ahmed Baba Jamal, Deputy Eastern Region Minister, at the weekend admonished students not to resort to violence and demonstrations to back their demands, but to channel their grievances through the appropriate quarters for redress. He observed that dialogue was certainly better than the use of force, or demonstrations in seeking redress and advised students to pursue the course of dialogue at all times.

Mr Baba Jamal, who was speaking at the first speech and prize-giving day of the Salvation Army Senior High School at Akyem Wenchi in the Kwaebibirem District, also advised students to desist from social vices such as drug abuse, drunkenness, pre-marital sex, stealing and the rest. "These vices will not assist you in achieving your goals and objectives as future leaders of our dear nation," he said.

He challenged the students to spend a greater part of their time in acquiring knowledge saying, "Your knowledge should have a liberating effect on your people who would be looking forward to see how best you can use the skills you have acquired to turn things around for the better Ghana, Government is seeking to achieve."

Mr Baba Jamal reminded parents that the inculcation of the highest moral of self-discipline, integrity, the right sense of values, sense of duty and responsibility, selflessness and the right attitude, remained the joint responsibility of both home and school.

He therefore entreated all parents to provide guidance by example as setting good examples often works better than telling children what to do. Mr Baba Jamal also tasked the headmaster and staff, parents and all stakeholders to enforce discipline both at home and school. He expressed worry about increased occultism in pre-tertiary educational institutions and said most students indulged in those practices without being aware of their serious consequences.

Mr Baba Jamal reiterated government's commitment to invest a greater chunk of the nation's resources in human resource development as part of the Better Ghana Agenda.

"The introduction of the free exercise books and school uniforms programme, increase in capitation grant and the expansion of the school feeding programme, are interventions of the government to cushion parents financially to ensure affordability and accessibility to education by all school-going children in Ghana."

On accommodation, Mr Baba Jamal said, government had put in place a programme to mobilize funds and construct six-unit classrooms to accommodate fresh students in almost all schools between now and August, to help solve the accommodation problems schools are likely to face when the academic year starts.

Mr Sampson Afrifa, Headmaster of the school, in his welcoming address, announced that the school recorded 99.2 percent pass in the 2009 West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSE) with the best student obtaining aggregate 07.

He mentioned inadequate infrastructure, logistics, equipment, teaching and learning materials and information and communication technology, as some of the challenges facing the school.

Mr Afrifa said currently the school did not have the required number of classrooms and dormitory accommodation for its students, adding that 150 first year students were placed in the school's dinning hall for tutelage. He appealed for equal attention to all schools, especially those in the rural areas where the chunk of the unearthed talents of the youth could be catered for, to have access to quality education. Prizes were later given to students who excelled in their various subjects 23 May 10.