The Headmistress of KNUST Senior High School, Mrs Joyce Owusu- Ansah, has called on the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to collaborate to call a private land developer who had been harassing and threatening the lives of school authorities and construction workers to order.
She explained that the private land developer- a native of Boadi- who claims to be the owner of an area allotted the school by the KNUST for expansion, had not only been “interfering with new projects , but has also been harassing workers at the new site by using notorious machomen to threaten them”.
That, she noted, had not only been undermining their academic programmes, but also been rendering them helpless in providing the requisite infrastructure that would have accelerated the construction of dormitories and other school facilities.
Mrs Owusu- Ansah made the appeal during the school’s second speech and prize-giving day held at the weekend.
The ceremony, which was on the theme “ Human resource development; the role of science, technical and vocational education” saw the school authorities awarding prizes to deserving staff and students.
Commending the former headmaster of the school, Mr J.A. Boamah and the former Board Chairman, Nana Agyewodin Adu Gyamfi Ampem, as well as the late Vice Chancellor of the KNUST, Professor Kwesi Andam for the significant roles they played to acquire the new site for the KNUST Senior School, Mrs Owusu- Ansah said their contributions would not yield fruitful results if noting was done to bring the private land developer to order.
“ There is an urgent need for the provision of the required facilities to give the school a boarding status, since land is available for the construction of dormitories, assembly hall dining hall and a kitchen. Staff accommodation is also inadequate and presently, only five out of a total number of 75 teachers are accommodated by the school through the PTA” she lamented
She said the rate of progress of work for the development of classrooms “ is also at a snail pace, and if nothing is done about it, the school cannot accommodate the first year students during the 2010-2011 academic year”.
Mrs Owusu-Ansah however, commended the Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Professor Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa and Dr R.P. Baffour who was a former Vice Chancellor of the KNUST, “for their various assistance ranging from Staff accommodation, access to some learning facilities at the KNUST and the donation of a 52-acre piece of land for expansion”.
She also commended the government for providing the school with a 32-seater bus and some infrastructure, including a new administration block and classrooms.
She was also full of praise for the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), regional and metropolitan directors of education, as well as the Board of Governors and old students of the school for their tremendous contributions which she said was impacting positively on their programmes .
In his address, the Minister of Education, M. Alex Tettey-Enyo said the nation had no option to initiate policies and programmes that would accelerate the development of the human resource base for the promotion and growth of the industries in the country.
“Our local industries are key to our national development, hence the need for the promotion of science , technical and vocational education” he noted ,stressing “ with new knowledge and skills through science, technical and vocational education, we can have the required manpower needs like engineers, technicians and artisans from our youth instead of the usual reliance on external expertise”.
Explaining further he said government’s investment in the energy sector , including gas and hydro power generation could be derailed and Ghana would end up selling “ our birth rights to foreigners if we ignore the training of our youth in the skills and knowledge required for the energy sector “
Mr Tettey-Enyo, therefore, urged stakeholders in both the public and private sectors to actively support the government in its effort “ at revamping education delivery in this country and more importantly in providing the needed resources to promote science and Technology”.
He also urged parents to encourage their children “ to pursue science, technical and vocational education programmes at the pre-tertiary level and higher technological courses in the tertiary institutions”.
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