Upper West Region needs sufficient educational resources – Retired Economic Planner
Mr. James B. Dassah, a retired Economic Planning Officer, has appealed to the Government to allocate more resources for the development of education in the Upper West Region.
He said despite Government interventions in the area of human resources, many schools in the Region needed more staff for quality education delivery.
Mr Dassah made the call at the first speech and prize giving day of the Eremon Senior High Technical School, at Eremon in the Lawra District, which was on the theme: “Quality Education for Human Resource Development, the Role of the Stakeholder”.
He said but for the Youth Employment Programme, some schools in the area would have been without teachers, and expressed worry that many of those personnel, who were providing temporary solution to the problem, were not properly motivated in terms of salary and professional development.
Mr Dassah said the link between improved facilities and academic performance of schools was a reality and that the national policy on education must be consistent with long term aspirations, and Government should make adequate provisions for the pursuit of quality education.
He appealed to district assemblies in the Region to ensure the completion and functioning of abandoned Information and Communication Technology Centres that were being constructed at almost every town in the Region.
Mr Dassah advised the students to abstain from drug abuse and alcoholism and rather learn hard to enable them to pass their examinations.
Alhaji Issahaque Salia, Upper West Regional Minister, in a speech read on his behalf, said the Government’s “Better Ghana Agenda” vision could not be realised without quality technical education.
He said Government was, therefore, reviewing the technical and vocational educational policy to promote students’ interest in technical and vocational education at the basic and tertiary levels.
Alhaji Salia stressed that Government was committed to providing technical education to develop the country’s human resource base for rapid industralisation and development.
Mr. Felix S. Sibiri, Headmaster of the School, commended Government for intitating projects to improve the educational institution, and appealed to the authorities to pay more attention to less-endowed schools when it comes to resource allocation.
He appealed to the Government to provide the school with a library and generator to power machines installed at the various departments.
The Eremon Senior High Technical School that was established in 1991 with 24 students had a student population of 657.
Source: GNA