Educational reform, challenge to proprietors -Educationists

Techiman (B/A), July, 27, GNA - The educational reforms programme poses a great challenge to private institutions and their proprietors must endeavour to provide their pupils and students with quality education.

Madam Agnes Arthur, pre-school co-ordinator of Techiman municipal directorate of the Ghana Education Service, who made the call advised proprietors to study the Ministry of Education's guidelines governing the running of private schools carefully and abide by them.

She was speaking at the first kindergarten graduation day for 55 pupils of Obour-Amaning Centre for Education in Techiman.

The co-ordinator stressed that private schools had a vital role to play in assisting the government to make education more accessible. Madam Arthur emphasized the need for the recruitment of qualified and competent teachers and the creation of a congenial environment and infrastructure for effective teaching and learning.

Madam Arthur urged parents not to consider certificates of graduation from pre-school as waste materials but rather as important records for future reference to the benefit of their children. Mr. Augustine Obour-Amaning, proprietor of the school, said the School, which was started in 1993 with seven pupils as a day-care and was changed to kindergarten within the same year with enrolment of 43 pupils currently has 430 pupils.

Mr. Obour-Amaning said the school comprised kindergarten and primary sections whilst a Junior Secondary School had been established and named after the late Omanhene of Techiman Traditional area, Takyia-Ameyaw JSS.

Madam Agatha Kwao, Headmistress of the school, deplored the non-payment of fees by parents, which he said had contributed to the low

infrastructural development of the school. Mr. Michael Yeboah Agyemang, Assembly Member for Tunasuase electoral area, who presided, called on parents to appreciate education as a vital tool for development and provide their children with the basic educational needs.

He said the issue of high fees charged by some private schools was a subject of worry to parents and appealed to proprietors to charge moderate fees to encourage more parents to enroll their children. An appeal for funds yielded 1.8 million cedis.