Quality Education Vital In Competitive World - Kofi Annan

Mr Kofi Annan (2nd right) interacting with schoolchildren of Association International School during the visit. Those with him are Mrs Audrey Amoah Doryumu (right), Head of the school and Mrs Nane Annan (3rd right).

A former United Nations Secretary General, Busumuru Kofi Annan, has emphasised the need for the delivery of quality education in a conducive environment.

He said quality education was vital in preparing students for today’s competitive world.

Mr Annan made these remarks when he paid a familiarisation visit to the Association International School at the Airport Residential Area in Accra.

During the visit, which lasted about 35 minutes, the former UN boss, accompanied by his wife, Nane Marie, interacted with the pupils and faculty members.

He observed classes in sessions from Kindergarten to Primary Six.

He toured the school, which has been rehabilitated following its handover to the founder, Colonel George Amoah (retd), based on the recommendations of the National Reconciliation Commission.

The school, which now adopts the Ghanaian, British and American systems of education, was built in 1963. It was confiscated in 1979 by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).

Mr Annan described the new infrastructure of the school as good and conducive for learning, noting that the children were very lively.

He underscored the importance of educating children, saying through that they could develop themselves adequately for future challenges.

The Head of the school, Mrs Audrey Doryumu, said Mr Annan’s meeting with the students would go a long way to inspire them in their future endeavours.

She said there was the need to challenge the children to compete with their peers in other parts of the world.

Colonel Amoah said the school started with eight children, four of whom were his own children.

By the 1980s, he said, the school, which was the toast of many people, had about 1,500 students.

He expressed the hope that with a current population of 33, the school would grow.

He was grateful to Mr Annan for his visit and support.

Mr Annan, who was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, served from 1997 to 2006 and was the first to emerge from the ranks of United Nations staff.

One of Mr Annan’s main priorities as Secretary-General was a comprehensive programme of reform aimed at revitalising the UN and making the international body more effective.

At his initiative, UN peacekeeping was strengthened in ways that enabled the UN to cope with a rapid rise in the number of operations and personnel.

It was also at his urging that, in 2005, member states established two new inter-governmental bodies —the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council.

Mr Annan again played a central role in the creation of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, the adoption of the UN’s first-ever counter-terrorism strategy and the acceptance by member states of the responsibility to protect people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.