The Deputy Minister for Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has advised parents not to deny their children access to education no matter the circumstances they may find themselves.
He explained that irrespective of the kind of work they did and the kind of conditions they may find themselves in, there was no way they should use such conditions as an excuse to prevent their children and wards from access to education which held the key to their future dreams.
Rev. Fordjour gave the advice on Saturday at a durbar of chiefs and people of Gomoa Akropong No. 2 in the Gomoa Central District of the Central region.
The durbar was to climax week-long activities for the celebration of their annual Akwambo festival by the chiefs and people of the area.
The event which had the theme “working together to seek peace and development for Akropong No. 2” brought together people from all walks of life.
Some of the activities which took place during the week were a health walk, candle possession, born fire, cooking competition, inter-area football competition, inter-schools quiz competition, dancing competition and the coronation of chiefs in a palanquin before the durbar.
Peaceful co-existence
Rev. Ntim Fordjour praised the chiefs and people of the area for their roles played in leading to the maintenance of peace in the area over the years and urged them to continue living in peace with one another.
He assured the people of the government’s commitment to partner with all stakeholders in the country towards the development of the country through education.
The Deputy Minister announced that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government would continue to work hard to ensure that all children of school-going age benefitted from education.
Equal access
“The government desires that both children of the rich and the poor would both have equal access to education hence the various interventions to ensure that all children had access to education irrespective of ethnic, political, religious among other affiliations”. He said.
Rev. Ntim Fordjour appealed to all parents to strive to complement the government to ensure that their children stayed in school till they completed by providing them with their basic needs like bags, and clothing among others.
The Odikro of Gomoa Akropong, Nana Odum Amanfo IV, commended the people of the area for their support towards the maintenance of peace in the town and called for them to maintain the peace in the area.
He also eulogized the government for its support for the development of education in the area but called for more support to ensure that many more youths got access to education.
The Odikro recounted the various initiatives implemented by the traditional council to ensure that all children in the communities around the area took their education seriously.
Prioritise education
Nana Dr Agyarkwah Akyen II, Mankrado of Gomoa Akropong (known in private life as Dr David Annan-Bonney), charged the chiefs and people of the area to prioritise education in all that they do since that was the legacy every parent can bequeath to their children.
He charged the youth to have good role models and work hard towards attaining higher laurels like them or even beyond.
The Deputy Education Minister used the occasion to donate 15 pianos to some Senior High Schools in the area and stationery to some Basic Schools to boost effective teaching and learning in their schools.
By Felix Baidoo
