body-container-line-1
12.07.2012 Education

Amend GETFUND law to expand beneficiary institutions - Youth Training Institutes

By GNA
Amend GETFUND law to expand beneficiary institutions - Youth Training Institutes
12.07.2012 LISTEN

Issa (U/W), July 11, GNA – Principals of youth leadership training institutes across the country, have called on the Government to review the law that established the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to enable more institutions to also benefit from the Fund.

This according to the principals would enable the institutions to upgrade their infrastructure to make teaching and learning more comfortable and meaningful to both the students and their instructors.

Mr. Daniel Ahin-Sam, Chairman of the Conference of the Principals of the Youth Leadership Training Institutes, made the call during their 38th Conference at Issa in the newly inaugurated Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District of the Upper West Region.

This year's conference, which was on the theme: “Building the Capacities of our Institutes to Play a Meaningful Role in Youth Skills Development for Employment” was aimed at bringing together all the principals to take stock of their achievements and chart a way forward.

Mr. Ahin-Sam, who is also the Principal of the Asankare Youth Leadership Training Institute in the Ashanti Region, stressed on the importance of vocational/technical education, which he noted should not be pushed to the periphery but properly mainstreamed into the educational system.

“Vocational/Technical institutes in the country are being treated like orphans; incentives are giving to basic school teachers at the rural areas to the neglect of those teaching in these institutes”, he said.

He, however, said the principals were doing their best to ensure that those teaching at these schools also get their due to improve on their living conditions.

Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, Upper West Regional Minister in a speech read on his behalf commended the principals for coming together to deliberate on how to move their institutes to forward to enable them to churn out the right material for industrial growth in the country.

He said the role of youth leadership training institutes in the proper upbringing and skills development of the youth could not be underestimated.

It was for this reason that the Youth Development Policy was launched by Vice President John Dramani Mahama to cater for the development needs of the youth in the country.

Mr. Mumuni Sulemana, Acting Principal of the Issa Youth Leadership Training Institute, mentioned lack of permanent teachers for Mathematics, English and Entrepreneurship, lack of electricity, delay in release of feeding grants as well as inadequate infrastructure as some of the challenges facing the Institute.

Mr. Sulemana, who is also the Upper West Regional Director of the National Youth Authority (NYA), stated however that despite these daunting challenges, the Institute still performed very well academically since its establishment in 1994.

Mr. Archibald Donkor, the Director of Finance and Administration at the National Youth Authority, said plans were far advanced to rehabilitate existing infrastructure and also construct new ones for the institutes.

GNA

body-container-line