Falling education standards worrying — Debrah
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Julius Debrah, has expressed worry about the falling standards of education and the rising indiscipline among children in recent times.
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He noted that the trend of events could be attributed to poor reading habits among students and lack of proper parental care.
Mr Debra made that comment at the Powerhouse Ministries International's annual reading contest in Accra. Powerhouse Ministries International is a development-oriented church at Korle Gonno whose main aim is to see to the promotion of morals and the spiritual and academic development of children in the area.
The minister’s speech was read on his behalf by Mr Henry Asamoah, the Director, Finance and Administration, Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinating Council.
Mr Debrah said the government saw the poor standard of behaviour in schools and communities as a negative trend which must be carefully dealt with by inviting all stakeholders, including parents, teachers, pastors, Imams and opinion leaders, to support the fight against the poor standard in the system
He said continuous reading and learning was an important tool for social and economic progress and development, and stressed the need for all to support the government to ensure discipline and inculcate moral values in children.
Mr Debrah charged parents and teachers to inculcate in children the habit of reading useful material that would help enrich their knowledge about the consequences of bad behaviour.
He further said it was the responsibility of parents and teachers to provide children with a good foundation through reading so that they would realise their full potential to enable them to build their communities in future.
Mr Debrah said the time had come for children to put into practice what they had acquired in their various schools and showcase moral standards to their friends.
The Senior Pastor of the Powerhouse Ministries International, Rev. Bernard Arde-Acquah, commended the sponsors — Duku Consulting, Cocoa Processing Company, Holiday Inn Hotel, Nestle Ghana Limited and Vita Milk — for supporting the annual reading competition.
He expressed appreciation to Ms Mercy King, Ms Peggy Annan and Mrs Sandra Amonoo Neizer, co-ordinators of the event, which had been widely acclaimed by residents of Korle Gonno, a suburb of Accra, as a valuable venture.
He urged students to take their studies seriously even as they tried to use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a research tool and not to abuse it.
The Chief Executive Officer of Duku Consulting Limited, Mr Felix Duku, assured the organisers of the event that the company would continue to support such a worthy cause in order to ensure that students in the area were adequately prepared to compete with well-endowed schools in the country.
The Korle Gonno ‘3’ Junior High School emerged the overall best school in the reading contest, and was presented with a desktop computer, books and other items.
Master Samuel Kwabena Bediako of the same school emerged the outstanding student after the two-day contest.