President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has cut the sod for the construction of a new senior high technical school at Dabaa in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District in the Ashanti Region in honour of former President John Agyekum Kufuor.

The school, to be named J.A. Kufuor Senior High Technical School, is expected to have assembly and dining halls, a kitchen, classrooms, a workshop, staff bungalows, a headmaster’s residence and dormitories.

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Recognition

Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony at Mr Kufuor's hometown, Dabaa, yesterday, President Akufo-Addo said the naming of the school was in recognition of the former President’s exemplary leadership and introduction of key social interventions, such as the National Health Insurance Scheme.

He said the choice of a technical institution was in line with the government’s recognition that science, technology and innovation were key to Ghana’s development agenda.

"Every child must be given the opportunity to bring out his or her inherent talent, and this is normally done in the laboratory and the workshops, where skills are developed and expanded,” he said.

The President said it was important that as a nation "we modernise all aspects of our national lives, and this needs skilled people”. He said the government was determined to make the country a world-class technical development centre, as well as make technical and vocational education popular.

He dismissed the perception that technical and vocational education was for individuals who were not endowed academically.

Citing Germany as an example, President Akufo-Addo said that country had grown strong and remained robust because of its solid technical base.

He said science, technology and skills training were the country's “solid rock” base for accelerated development.