Govt asked to implement Education C'ttee Recommendation

Accra, Aug. 11, GNA - The Reverend (Dr) Emmanuel Gbordzoe, Moderator of the Global Evangelical Church, on Thursday called on the Government to implement without delay the recommendation of the Education Reform Review Committee on apprenticeship and skills training to enable children who could not go beyond the Junior Secondary School to acquire skills.

He said such skill training was important to ensure that those who did not go beyond secondary school did not risk losing out in the competitive global world.

Rev. Gbordzoe, therefore, called on the Government to facilitate the establishment of at least an apprenticeship and skills training centre in every constituency.

He was speaking at the opening of the 64th synod of the church on the theme: "There Is Still More Land to Take - Step Up Your Efforts!" Rev. Gbordzoe said it was the Church's objective to partner with the Government to provide quality education to every Ghanaian child. In line with this goal, he said the church had acquired 10 hectares at Oyibi to establish a Senior Secondary School and University. The Church has also since 1991 established 34 basic schools in some deprived communities.

Touching on Finance, the Moderator said the Church was to start a micro-finance scheme to provide small loans and technical advice to its members to improve their businesses.

The programme to be run by the Global Impact Foundation, a non-governmental organisation of the Church, would initially start with three congregations and gradually spread out to others all over the country.

He said the Global Special Investment Fund launched in April last year had yielded 800 million cedis out of a target of 1.2 billion cedis. Some 700 million cedis out of the amount had been invested in various financial institutions.

Rev Gbordzoe said the Church hoped to eventually establish a credit bank through its micro-finance programme.

He said the micro-finance initiative was one way through which the Church hoped to empower its members, saying that the growth of the Church was tied to the prosperity of the individual members. Rev Gbordzoe asked beneficiaries of the scheme to apply the loans strictly to the purposes for which they had been given to enable them to pay back in time so that others could also benefit.

He pledged the Church's support to Government's efforts to promote quality health care through the National Health Insurance Scheme. Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), Minister of Health, lauded the various initiatives of the Church but asked the leadership of the country's churches to emphasise good character formation among members of the congregation.

He said it was important that Christians through all their activities led lives that brought honour and glory to God. Major Quashigah said Christians could make the world a better place by sticking to the commandments of God, adding continuous disobedience to God's tenets was bringing the world to destruction. He asked for special prayers for secular leaders. 11 Aug. 05