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A legal practitioner has appealed to the government to commit more resources to the promotion of science and technology education to help hasten the pace of the country's socio-economic progress. Mrs Lizzy-Pearl Addison said science and technology was the way forward if Ghana is to become an emerging economy. Addressing the 12th Speech and Prize-Giving Day of the Joy Standard School at Atonsu in Kumasi she said the educational system must therefore discriminate in favour of science. "Joy Standard Schools' 17 Years of Academic Excellence, The Way Forward" was the theme. Mrs Addison said everything should be done to make the teaching and learning of the sciences more lively and attractive to students. She also advised that teachers should not be weakened in "discipline by frivolous parents who ignorantly complain" when their children are corrected. This, she said, was important considering the fact that children spend more time in the care of teachers than they do with the parents. She likened education to the "building of a house" and said the foundation stage was critical and that if the right amount of time and focus was not given to this, "whatever you accomplish above the foundation stage is a waste of time." It was for this reason that parents should encourage their children to adopt the habit of reading at their early ages. Mrs Addison said this would enable them to build a solid foundation for academic excellence. "Leisure reading is an extremely viable tool for personal development for an individual and must be encouraged at all level", she said. Mr Stephen Donkor, the proprietor, said the school scored 100 per cent pass in this year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) with all the 140 candidates presented gaining admission into Senior High School. Their products are also making the school proud at the tertiary level citing, Miss Ataa Boakyewaa, who graduated from the University of Ghana this year with a First Class Honours in Administration. A 51-member cadet corps of the school has been inaugurated with a call on them to maintain high standards of discipline. Major Daniel Adjetey, Second In-Command of the Fourth Battalion of Infantry (4BN) in Kumasi, said they should accept the challenge of providing the necessary leadership and help to discourage all forms of socially reprehensible behaviour among students.