THE Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Church is noted for its immense contribution to educational development in the country in partnership with the central government.
This dates back to the time the European missionaries set foot on the soil of this country for evangelism to propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people.
To date the church has established two colleges of education (teacher training colleges), five senior high schools, 95 junior high schools, two vocational institutes, 372 primary schools and 204 kindergartens, employing more than 2,908 teachers in the schools.
Of late the church has successfully established the E.P. University in Ho to consolidate the quest for true, quality and tertiary education for people in the region in particular and the nation as a whole.
The educational pursuit of the church over the years, has facilitated the enrolment of several hundred of thousands of children in the Volta Region and elsewhere, especially in basic schools.
It is for this reason that the church has fixed June 4-11 of every year as E.P. Church education week.
The celebration of this year’s event on the theme: “Newness in Christ”, was aimed at transforming the education sector.
Many activities heralded the celebration. They include congregational prayers, clean-up exercises, debates and a symposium on topics such as the relevance of educational reforms in Ghana, challenges confronting church-based schools, Christian values versus traditional or customary practices, parental control as an inevitable tool for child upbringing.
Other activities covered the adverse effects of occultism on the growing child and fund-raising in all E.P. churches.
In accordance with the upgrading of physical infrastructure of selected basic and second-cycle educational institutions, the E.P. Educational Unit has proposed the collection of a total of GH¢809.20 to start a GH¢200,000 education endowment fund, with the money being sourced form internal and external sources.
A new administration block estimated at GH¢160,000 is to be constructed for the educational unit in addition to three-bedroom official bungalows for the general and regional managers.
According to the acting General Manager of E.P. Educational Unit, Reverend W.H.Y. Azornu, high-profile technocrats at various branches of the church were to be identified to form a think tank to advise on matters of professional relevance to the development of the church’s educational department.
He said incentive packages would be instituted to reward deserving teachers and the heads of the educational institutions under the church as a way of motivating them to stimulate improvement in their performance.
“These are among other interventions that have been designed for implementation in three phases spanning over a nine-year period that start from 2009 to 2019 with each phase to be implemented in three years,” he stated.
Pertinent to the theme of the celebration, it was appropriate to advise pupils and students as target groups on required values to make them productive citizens to their families and the nation.
That was why the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, urged the children to take their studies seriously and not to get involved in any form of social vice, stressing that they should be disciplined and law-abiding.
He urged them to abstain from the use of hard drugs, indecent dressing and the promotion of licentious songs among schoolchildren, reminding them of the recent upsurge of cyberfraud known as “Sakawa”.
Mr Amenowode said cyberfraud was not a game but an illegal and unholy activity that could have adverse implications for their future and should, therefore, be avoided.
He decried the prevalence of sexual promiscuity among schoolchildren, stressing that it was shameful and embarrassing.
The regional minister stated that the high rate of teenage pregnancy among Junior High School (JCS) candidates in the recently written Basic Education Certificate Examination attested to the growing canker.
Mr Amenowode, therefore, alerted the schoolchildren of the existence of HIV and AIDS and cautioned them to comport themselves to avoid contracting the dreadful HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
He underscored the importance of education as a major factor in the socio-economic development of any nation, adding that all nations depended on education as a vital tool for their human resource.
The regional minister, therefore, commended the E.P. Church for the great role it had played and continued to play in education delivery, and said the government would continue to work hard to enhance the partnership between the missions and the state for quality education promotion.
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the E.P. Church, Right Reverend Francis Amenu, said the church could be counted among the key players in the provision of educational facilities nationwide.
He stated that the church’s educational pursuits started from the primary level through the senior high to the university level.
In an address read on his behalf, the Volta Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr G.Y. Kploanyi, said the theme for the celebration was unique in view of the numerous challenges facing education in the region, particularly when educational standards had been falling.
He, therefore, said the E.P. education week was a bold and concerted effort needed by all stakeholders to address the falling standards in the region.
The Volta Regional Manager of E.P. schools, Mr E.K. Dzikunu, said the celebration would rekindle public interest and involve them in educational matters in order to bring schools closer to the public and stimulate interest in children to enrol in schools.
No comments:
Post a Comment