Tema, Aug. 02, GNA - The Vice-Chancellor of University of Cape Coast (UCC), Rev. Prof Emmanuel Adow Obeng has blamed the increase in social vices and corruption in the country on the lack of intensive moral training at the basic level of education.

He therefore urged basic and secondary school administrators to restructure their school activities to aim at providing proper moral grounding for students.

The Vice-Chancellor said, the country's education must not only be geared towards making students only academically conscious but also ethically sound and socially alert.

Delivering a speech as the Guest Speaker at the 25th anniversary and 13th graduation celebration of Creator School in Tema on Saturday he stated that, "the lack of emphasis on morality or the over emphasis of academic excellence in our educational institutions has affected all aspects of our social lives".

He said most people in high positions in the world were perceived to be corrupt despite their high education, adding that, such perceptions indicated that more attempt must be put in building solid academic and moral excellence in the youth at the foundation level.

Speaking on the theme; "25 years of moral and academic excellence", Rev Prof Obeng said moral education has become very important that organizations now look beyond an applicant's certificate to the content of character and how responsible a person would be when given a job. The Vice-Chancellor noted that for teachers to be effective in their role as promoters of academic and moral excellence, they must be given extensive training on how best to deliver the school curriculum in their classrooms through the use of proven teaching methods. He added that, the UCC was putting up a team of specialists in English, Science, Mathematics and Religion to organize a series of in-service training programmes for basic and secondary school teachers. In her welcoming address, the Director of the school, Rev. Mrs Comfort Chemfe Adjarko called for the need for stakeholders, parents, guardians and school authorities to work in concert to give children a balanced development to enable them to become responsible future adults. She asked parents to prioritise their commitments and endeavour to settle their children's fees promptly as the fund was needed to run the schools.

In her remarks, Madam Joyce Aryee, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines who chaired the function called on parents to monitor their wards to enable them develop their God given talents to impact positively on society. A science laboratory stocked with equipment was inaugurated. 02 Aug. 2008