President Mahama outlines social agenda to inform government's economic policies

President Mahama said to this end, district assemblies would be required to incrementally build new structures in all existing public schools to serve the needs of kindergarten education. He said it was also the objective of his government to eliminate the remaining schools under trees by the end of 2016, adding that it intends to enforce compulsory basic school attendance and deepen pro-poor interventions like the distribution of free school uniforms, free exercise books and free computers. He said the school-feeding programme would also be progressively expanded to all public basic schools in rural communities to satisfy the basic nutritional needs of the pupils. He said government was also committed to tackling the greatest challenges facing education at the secondary level in the country, paramount among which was a lack of access occasioned by inadequate space and facilities for the large number of qualified junior high school graduates. He said government would, over the next four years, construct a total of 200 new community day senior high schools, giving priority to districts which currently lack such schools, to address the limitations imposed on access to secondary education. �This level of aggressive expansion and improved access to secondary education also means the need for more qualified and well-motivated teachers, as well as administrative staff,� he said. President Mahama said government would, in the next few months, roll out a special sandwich teacher educational training programme targeted at unemployed graduates in preparation for the full implementation of its access to secondary education programme. It would again lead a process to modernise and increase the number of colleges of education with special emphasis on deprived areas and communities and design and implement a distance education programme for teachers within 10 decentralized satellite campuses across the country. �Taking full advantage of contemporary information and communication technology platforms that will allow electronically-shared access to instructional and curriculum resources by these students and staff in these colleges,� he said. He said in the area of special education, government would facilitate the completion of ongoing construction of assessment centres and equip special education units with the necessary teaching and learning aids including devices for the hearing and visually impaired. �In doing this we intend to emphasize inclusive education by ensuring that our children with special needs are fully integrated into our society through the educational arrangements,� he said. He said government would further provide incentives for special educators and ensure that children-with-special-needs benefitted from the advantages of modern technology. For tertiary education, the President hinted that government, by the third quarter of 2013, would initiate a Bill for Parliamentary consideration towards the establishment of a new university in the Eastern Region, which would be committed to Sustainable Environmental Development and Research. He said in addition to this, the 10 existing polytechnics would also receive special support, while expanding degree-awarding courses. President Mahama, linking the quality of life needed to limit the vulnerability of the aforementioned venerable social groups, stressed on improved health services. He said improved health services augment investment in education because sick instructors would not teach well and sick students will not learn well. He said presently, the healthcare system still had personnel deficits and service deficiencies despite the human capacity development programmes being implemented.