Ho, Feb 2, GNA - A communication expert has criticised the habit of cramming of notes and books for the purpose of passing examinations, common among Ghanaian students at all educational levels. Mrs. Dorothy Gordon, Director of the Ghana/India Kofi Annan Information Communication Technology (ICT) Center, said this was affecting the quality of school levers in the country as some of them had poor problem solving abilities, which was compelling some multi-national companies to employ staff from elsewhere.

The Director of the ICT Centre was addressing a durbar in Ho on Friday to mark the fourth anniversary of the Volta Foundation, a development advocacy non-governmental organisation, organised under the theme: "Harnessing Our Energies for the Accelerated Development of the Volta Region-2010, the Year for Youth Empowerment", at HO.

Mrs Gordon slammed Ghanaians' attitude towards work, saying that some of them did not work hard enough and that "Our concept of hard work differs from other people's concept of hard work".

She said there were boundless opportunities in the ICT sector for the youth and for women especially, the area was so structured that they could earn a living working from their various homes.

Mr. Dick Commandeur, Netherlands Development Agency, Eastern Portfolio Coordinator, said that the about 50 per cent pass rate at the Basic Certificate Examination Examinations level could mean that half of the children reached the end of Junior High School "without having leant enough to meet the basic requirements for their future".

He said the youth could only be empowered if give the appropriate education to enable them to organize their lives.

Mr. Commandeur said in developed countries, children, who "want to leave the education cycle as soon as possible, enter into the vocational skills training but this was not the case in Ghana". Referring to a 2006 human development report, he said only 7,211 people were trained at vocational skill centres, which meant only 635 young men and women attended one of the four vocational training centres in the Volta Region.

He said this was probable due to insufficient training opportunities, inability to pay school fees and the neglect of vocational training by some people.

Mr Commadeur called on government to create more opportunities for the youth to enable them to build empower themselves economically. Dumega Raymond K. Okudzeto, President of the Foundation, noted that the youth played a significant role in the development of the Volta Region. The Foundation gave one scholarship to seven students in senior high schools, selected from the northern, central and southern zones of the region. 21 Feb 10