Atimpoku (Eastern Region), 23rd July 99

The government has been called upon to initiate sound educational policies to provide qualitative instead of quantitative education.

Mr Samuel Ayim-Ankomah, Asuogyaman District Co-ordinator of the National Service Scheme, said Ghana's bright future could only be realised if policies that emphasise on qualitative education are pursued.

He was addressing the joint launching of the Asuogyaman, Yilo and Manya Krobo districts National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) week celebrations at Atimpoku in the Asuogyaman district on Tuesday.

The weeklong celebration on the theme "Creating environmental consciousness-the role of NASPA", will be climaxed with a tree-planting exercise and an excursion to tourist sites as well as an awards and dinner night.

Mr Ayim-Ankomah recounted the invaluable role of NASPA towards the socio-economic development of the nation, saying "we were able to do this because of the sound education we received."

He said until recently, the scheme was providing about 60 per cent of the teaching staff in basic schools and cited several institutions like the Apegusu Secondary School which was created with service personnel as their pioneer tutors.

Mr Emmanuel Dwamena-Bekoe, Asuogyaman District Chief Executive, also recounted contributions service personnel had made towards national development and urged those in leadership positions to patronise their activities.

He commended the association for the theme it had chosen for the celebration and cautioned that if they failed to appreciate the socio-economic culture of the people and how they relate to the environment, their campaign would be of little success.

Mr Tara Squire, Asuogyaman district NASPA president, said poor sanitation and other destructive environmental practices would dissuade tourists from patronising tourist potentials in the area.

GRi?/