The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Salt and Light Ministry, Rev. Dr Joyce Aryee, has stated that our over-reliance on imports from foreign countries for almost all the products we use is the cause of our woes as a country.

She explained that Ghana was not a producing economy and we were not utilising our knowledge to enable us to produce appropriately to meet our needs.

She said the end result, therefore, was to rely on others who were taking advantage of their application of knowledge, which we were paying for. That, she said, was the real meaning of technology and technology was modern if it was assisting us as a country to resolve issues or meet a need at a particular time.

She made the observation as the guest speaker at the 8th Speech and Prize-Giving Day of Yilo Krobo Senior High School (YIKROSEC) at Somanya. It was on the theme: “Modern Day Technology—The impact on the Ghanaian student.”

Rev. Dr Aryee emphasised that modern technology should meet the pressing needs of modern times. She said in the case of Ghana, the challenges included the development of human resources and thinkers to meet our industry and manufacturing needs so that we could reduce our levels of import.

She said we required thinkers and investors in medicine, agriculture, science, commerce and business where we could maximise all resources to the fullest for the benefit of the citizenry.

“Let us develop our own technology and halt the overdependence on other countries’ ingenuity,” she stressed.

She said technology was the basis for rapid transportation, preservation of food and, most recently the improvement in communications. Advice

Rev. Dr Aryee urged the students to realise that technology could help them develop in the various areas which were most critical for Ghana and Africa as a whole.

She also counselled them to be focused and embrace modern technology. Infrastructural development

In a welcome address, the Headmaster of YIKROSEC, Mr Matthew L. Bawah, said the school was currently facing some challenges, which included a lack of dormitories for boys and girls, water supply, teachers bungalows, road network, and encroachment on the school land.

Speaking more on the challenges, Mr Bawah called on the appropriate authorities to help fence the school to check encroachment from individuals in the community and movements of the student body.

Mr Bawah was, however, grateful to the government for providing the school with science equipment to refurbish the science laboratory.

He also commended the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) for assisting the school with numerous projects.