Winneba, (C/R), Nov. 01, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills on Saturday said the Government was committed to providing better social services and creating employment opportunities with decent working condition for all.

President Mills said the Government acknowledged that one of the means of attaining that goal was to continue to support tertiary institutions to provide quality education to meet the manpower requirement of the nation. President Mills said this in an address read for him by the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, at the 14th congregation of the University of Education, Winneba.

5,439 graduands were awarded with certificates, diplomas and degrees. President Mills said the functions of universities and other tertiary institution, which included teaching, learning, research, extension services, distance education, were critical for national development. "My administration will therefore ensure that adequate material and financial resources are made available for the maintenance and expansion of our tertiary institutions so that they will continue to contribute to national growth and development".

He said about 90 percent of the funding for education came from government budgetary allocation.

President Mills said the Government was currently reviewing the Education Strategic Plan of 2003 to 2015 with the view to further improve the delivery of education in Ghana.

He said this commitment would be guided by the principles of achieving and attaining quality, relevance, efficient management of resources, equity and accountability.

President Mills said critical to the attainment of the educational objectives of the government were issues relating to reforms at all levels of education.

This includes the basic and secondary levels of education, teachers' education, technical and vocational training and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and its application at all levels of the educational system, he said.

Government is committed to carrying out these reforms to improve the standard of education as a whole, the President said. President Mills said government had noted with interest the curricula reviews and new programmes that had been introduced by the University which includes Post-Diploma for Basic Education, a sandwich programme. The President said the special Masters in Education programme which targets tutors of the College of Education and the Post Graduate Diploma in Education by Distance Education were timely. He said those programmes would help train and provide the professional needs to strengthen and improve education delivery, planning and management in the schools and colleges.

Professor Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said the University, through the Office of International Relations, had established an International Off-Campus Programme in Nigeria. He said the project, which is a novel way of moving the University's programmes across borders, had a big potential to generate revenue for the University. 01 Nov. 09