Mampong (Ash), Dec 10, GNA - An educationist has appealed to the government to stop paying lip service to the development of education and agriculture if political pronouncements on efforts to move the country into a middle-income country are to be realised. The Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Education, Dr Thomas A. Bediako, said, "We cannot continue to depend on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other donors for solutions to our developmental problems".

Dr Bediako was speaking at the first congregation of the Asante-Mampong campus of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) on Friday.

He said it was clear that nations that had made significant progress socio-economically did so through a genuine commitment to skills-based education and agricultural modernisation. He expressed regret that Ghanaians spend time lamenting over problems rather than giving an account of past achievements and how to move the country forward.

Dr Bediako said Ghanaians should be proud of the achievements of the country's universities as they have produced professionals who are making significant contributions to socio-economic development. The Vice-Chancellor of UEW, Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, said agriculture education should be given attention if the country wanted to be self-sufficient in food and cash crop production. He appealed to the government and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to set up a 50 billion-cedi endowment fund to develop the Mampong College of Agriculture.

The Vice-Chancellor said the college had adopted measures to improve the quality of teaching and learning, make agricultural education more responsive and ensure gender equity as well as female access to agriculture education.

He told the new graduates to remember that their education and achievements would be meaningless if they ignored the moral and spiritual aspects of their training.

The Rt Rev Dr Livingstone Boamah, the Chairman of the University Council, appealed to the GETFund for additional financial support to accelerate the development of the college.

He said an innovative scientific agriculture is the only approach which can guarantee food security and boost the export industry, hence the need to support the college to grow.

A total of 174 students, 24 of who were women, graduated. They were awarded the Bachelor of Education degree in agriculture.