General News of Friday, 22 February 2019

Source: yen.com.gh

SONA 2019: 7 major things Akufo-Addo has promised to do

President Akufo-Addo was in Parliament to present the 2019 SONA President Akufo-Addo was in Parliament to present the 2019 SONA

President Akufo-Addo, on Thursday, February 21, 2019, presented the State of the Nation’s Address (SONA) at the House of Parliament.

His address cut across a myriad of issues that have gained national attention in the past few months.

YEN.com.gh has compiled seven major promises he made when he presented the address at the house:

1. Signing of a social partnership agreement:

President Akufo-Addo disclosed that the government will soon sign a social partnership agreement with organised labour or the Trades Union Congress, the Ghana Employers’ Association and government, represented by the ministries of finance and employment and labour relations.

The agreement will help provide a medium for building a sense of cohesion, trust, self-management, frank and open discussions to champion the course of development.

2. Effective management of Ghana’s ports:

The president explained that plans are underway to introduce more reforms at Ghana’s ports in order to improve efficiency.

He explained that this comes on the heels of the introduction of the paperless system at the ports.



3. New curriculum from Kindergarten to Class 6:

In September 2019, a new standards-based curriculum will be rolled out from Kindergarten to Class 6 in primary schools.

According to President Akufo-Addo, the curriculum has drawn upon the best practices from all over the world and will focus on making Ghanaian children confident, innovative, creative-thinking, digitally-literate, well-rounded, patriotic citizens.

Mathematics, Science, Reading, Writing and Creativity will be at the heart of the new curriculum.

4. Construction of TVET centres:

10 state-of-the-art Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) centres will be constructed in 2019.

He explained that the new TVET centres would be world class, and attractive to assure young people that they are not being sent to second best options.

5. Building of 10 STEM centres:

10 Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) centres will be built around the country to provide support for the introduction of STEM into basic education after the completion of a successful pilot phase.

In that regard, a Presidential Advisory Council on Science, Technology and Innovation (PACSTI) has been formed to advise the president on how to infuse the application of science and technology in the development of our nation. A distinguished scientist, Prof. Edward Ayensu, will head it.

6. Bringing all public university under common law:

A tertiary education policy bill will soon be brought before Parliament in order to bring all the public universities under common law and to make the administration of the public universities less cumbersome.

7. Housing projects for security officials:

The government intends to continue with housing projects for the police, armed forces and government workers across the country, through agencies like the State Housing Corporation (SHC).