The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa, has asked parents to take advantage of the free senior high school (SHS) programme to keep their children in school to make them responsible citizens in future.
He said with the successful roll out of the policy, there was no excuse for any Ghanaian child to be denied education at least up to the SHS level.
Dr Letsa also advised parents to encourage their children to take up technical and vocational education and training (TVET) courses to improve on the country’s skilled manpower base.
Launch
This was contained in a speech delivered on behalf of the minister at the launch of the Diamond Jubilee of the Kadjebi Asato SHS (KASEC) in Accra last Saturday.
The Deputy Oti Regional Minister designate, Mr Michael K. Blagodzi, and the Kadjebi District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Maxwell Asiedu, were among dignitaries who graced the launch.
It was a joyous moment, as past and present students sang the school anthem and interacted with one another.
Poverty alleviation
Dr Letsa observed that investing in education was the best way to fight poverty.
He, therefore, charged residents of the Volta and the Oti regions to invest in the education of their children to enable the children to contribute to the accelerated development of those regions.
"Education is the fulcrum around which the development of individuals, societies and nations revolve. It is the bedrock on which societal evolution rests and as such any nation that does not accord the needed priority and investment to the sector denies itself the unique fruits of sustained growth," he said.
Collaboration
The Headmaster of KASEC, Mr Gideon Tay, called on stakeholders of the school, including the traditional authorities and old students, to unite to develop the school.
While touting the laurels achieved by the school in the fields of academics, agriculture, sports and human resource to national development, he said more work needed to be done to address other challenges.
He mentioned inadequate classrooms, lack of staff accommodation, as well as shortage of teaching staff for the sciences, vocational and information and communications technology (ICT) programmes, as some of the difficulties inhibiting academic excellence in the school.
Mr Tay further bemoaned the declining state of discipline among students and the neglect of some parents in providing the basic needs of their children.
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