Accra, Dec.1, GNA - Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Education and Sports on Thursday hailed the computerised placement system saying, "those who had no big people behind found themselves in first class schools because of it."

"This has ensured better access to education for all and the good thing about it is that it is based on pure merit. We are aware of the influence old boys, churches and parents wield in these matters before the system was introduced."

Mr Osafo-Maafo was moving for the approval for 8 trillion, 278 billion cedis for the services of the Ministry of Education and Sports for the 2006 fiscal year.

He said the Ministry was equipping and expanding the country's training colleges with emphasis on fifteen, which would specialise in Mathematics, Science and technology.

The Minister said each of the thirty-eight Training Colleges would be provided a library and a bus.

According to Mr Osafo-Maafo, the next five years would be a period for expansion and re-equipping of the tertiary institutions. "The problem at the tertiary level is that enrolment has not caught with infrastructure."

He said bus services would be provided to ease transportation within the campuses of the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Developmental Studies (UDS), University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the University of Education, Winniba.

On Sports, he said, the senior national team, the Black Stars, have had donations since they qualified for the World Cup. He announced that the German government had invited the Black Stars to train, lodge and dine in that country free for ten days.