Obuasi, July 11, GNA - District assemblies have been urged to use part of their common fund to promote technical and vocational education so as to help turn out more skilled middle level manpower for the accelerated development of the country.

Mrs. Akua Gyaamah Kwapong, the President of the Ghana National Association of Vocational and Technical Institutes (GNAVTI), who made the call, said the assemblies and the general society needed skilled personnel in the areas such as plumbing, building and construction, electrical installation, computing and these are trained by those institutions.

Mrs Kwapong was speaking at the fifth anniversary and speech and prize-giving day of Kenevea Girls Vocational Institute at Obuasi on Friday.

She said it was important for the assemblies to support private vocational and technical institutions since those owned by the government were few as against over 400 privately-owned ones.

The president regretted that in spite of the huge contributions made by technical and vocational institutions, society still looked down upon them as institutions meant for less academically endowed youth.

Mrs. Kwapong encouraged parents to discard such notion and rather send their wards and children to such institutions since they stood to benefit the more.

In a speech read for him, Mr Joseph K. Boampong, the Obuasi Municipal Chief Executive, said the government was doing its best to ensure the proper development of the country's youth so that they would become beneficial to the nation in future.

He stressed, "In this fast changing world of ours, the youth must be assisted to develop an insatiable appetite for knowledge and self-improvement."

Mr Boampong advised the students to work harder so that the vision of the institute could be achieved.

Mrs Evelyn Siebu, the proprietress of the institute said the institute, which started with five students in 1999, had now enrolled 130 students.

She announced that management had completed arrangements to register the first batch of students for intermediate fashion and catering studies.

Mrs Siebu said plans were underway to acquire a new site so that the institute could admit students from outside Obuasi, saying, one major challenge facing the institute was the non-payment of fees by the students.