Regional News of Saturday, 1 June 2013

Source: GNA

Educationist calls for resourcing of kindergarten

Dr George Adjei-Henneh, Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of Education, has urged Municipal and District Directors of Education to encourage the posting of trained teachers to the kindergartens to build a better foundation for basic school education.

He said the assemblies should also construct better accommodation facilities for the kindergartens and equip them with sanitary and recreational facilities to enhance the health needs and growth of the children.

Dr Adjei-Henneh made the call when addressing the closing session of the Regional Education Sector Annual Review (RESAR) meeting at Abesim, near Sunyani.

The meeting on the theme: “Building Sustainable Quality Resource in the Brong-Ahafo Region, the Way Forward,” was to evaluate the state of education in the basic and second cycle levels in the Region.

It provided a forum for stakeholders to review the Regional performance using the participatory approach to assess progress made towards achieving the set targets in Education Strategic Plan 2010-2020.

Thematic areas for discussion included Basic Education, Senior High School Education, Technical and Vocational Educational, Educational Management and Special Education.

The two-day meeting was attended by about 240 participants, including some Municipal and District Chief Executives, Directors of Education and Circuit Supervisors.

The rest were Heads Educational Institutions, Municipal and District Planning Officers and representatives of some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working towards the attainment of quality education in the Region.

Dr Adjei-Henneh expressed concern about the poor state of some kindergartens in the communities and advised the people to ensure that children are properly accommodated to prevent them from health-related diseases, which emanates from over-crowding.

Yaw Manu, Wenchi Municipal Director of Education asked parents to send their children with disabilities to special schools to enable them become useful citizens.

Hayford Osei Kwadwo, Asutifi District Director of Education called on the schools management committees of the assemblies to ensure the construction of teachers’ bungalows in the deprived communities to encourage teachers to accept postings.

Eric Balangtaa, Programme Officer of the Partnership for Accountable Governance in Education Project (PAGE), appealed to the assemblies to factor into their annual budget estimates activities of the District Education Oversight committees and circuit supervisors to ensure effective supervision of schools for academic improvement.

The PAGE project is a USAID Education Support Programme being implemented by Care International, Ghana an NGO to ensure the promotion of quality education delivery in 46 districts.

Mr Andrews Kwasi Boateng, Registrar of University of Energy and Natural Resources, urged the participants and stakeholders to undertake a crusade on programmes of the university to encourage the youth and science students from the Region to enroll to accelerate socio-economic development in the region.