By Isaac Arkoh, GNA
Saltpond (C/R), Oct. 30, GNA-The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Friday commissioned the Ghana Education Staff Development Institute at Saltpond in the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region.
The GHC6.4 million state-of-the-art edifice funded by GETFUND has ancillary facilities with 90 rooms, two conference halls, a cafeteria, large ironing rooms and a-50 capacity car park.
The facility serves as a centre for building the capacities of teachers to improve their skills and competencies to deliver quality services.
Addressing a durbar of Chiefs and people of Mfantseman, Dr Bawumia said the timely completion of the project was a testimony of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s commitment to transforming education in Ghana.
Elaborating other interventions in the education sector, Dr Bawumia said the government’s flagship education, Free SHS, had significantly increased general enrolment for secondary education in the country.
Dr Bawumia explained that the introduction of the Free SHS policy drastically ended a disturbing trend, which saw the education of many children from poor families being truncated due to lack of funding.
To date, over 1.2 million students have benefited from the Free SHS programme, which has expanded access to secondary education and enabled an extra 400,000 students to enroll in Senior High School.
Despite few initial challenges in respect of implementation, Ghanaians have largely embraced this programme and the testimonies are endless.
He mentioned the capitation grant, the school feeding programme, free transportation for school children on the Metro Mass Transport Service and many good things that the government was doing that needed to be lauded.
“Such things are done by developed countries and not developing countries like Ghana hence it is a great achievement.”
He also spoke about the positive actions of the government on the abolition of the three-month pay policy and the restoration of the teacher training allowance, among other things.
Mrs Gifty Twum Ampofo, a Deputy Minister of Education in-charge of Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET), praised the government for its unwavering determination to prioritize the welfare of teachers.
She described the role of teachers as key to sustaining gains made in education and prayed that the electorate voted for the New Patriotic Party to sustain the gains made.
