Technical students advised to take interest in English Language
The Ashanti Regional Manager of the Catholic Education Unit, Rev. Fr John Amankwah, has urged students in technical and vocational schools in the country to take keen interest in learning the English Language to acquire good English Language skills.
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He said that would not only help them continue their education to the highest level, but also help them connect well with corporate bodies and institutions and communicate with clients in order to be in good business.
Rev. Fr Amankwah was speaking at the official launch of a programme to mark the celebration of the maiden Speech and Prize-giving Day of the Catholic Technical Institute in Kumasi, after 32 years of its establishment.
The event, programmed for July 9, 2016, would be heralded by activities such as blood donation, a symposium on “Entrepreneurship and value creation”, indoor games, a football gala, a clean-up exercise, and homecoming of old students.
The ceremony brought together various stakeholders in the education sector in the region.
Establishment
The institute was established in 1984 by the Most Rev. Peter Kwasi Sarpong, Emeritus Archbishop of Kumasi, with the aim of training a section of the youth who were roaming the streets of Kumasi and the rest of the country.
It initially started operating from an old chapel of the Basilica in Kumasi and in 1997 moved to its current location at Buokrom, a suburb of Kumasi.
Rev. Fr Amankwa was particularly not happy about the state of the nation’s industrial sector, which, according to him, was rather shedding off labour, instead of absorbing the large number of unemployed people, due to lack of either raw materials or other factors which had made operations in the sector difficult.
He expressed the conviction that the development of a well-structured vocational and technical education system held the key to the current unemployment situation in the country, since students who acquired knowledge from that field would not have to go and look for non-existing jobs but would rather create their own employment and take on others as well.
The regional manager said he was optimistic that vocational and technical education held the magic wand to turn the nation’s economy round, hence the need to give it the appropriate support and management.
In an address read on her behalf by Madam Dora Ayorkor Arday, the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Mrs Mary Owusu Achiaw, said it was time vocational and technical education was given the needed attention to save the nation from continuously producing graduates who would only come out to join the large number of unemployed youth.
Appeal for support
The Principal of the Catholic Technical Institute, Rev. Fr Joseph Asante, said the school was poised to be among the best technical institutes in the country, and appealed for support towards the provision of equipment in all technical and vocational institutes in the country to enable them to give a suitable training to their students.
The principal commended the Chief of Buokrom, Nana Owusu Bempah, for providing the large parcel of land for the construction of the school at its current site to enhance its operations.
The Headmistress of St Louis Senior High School, Mrs Theresa Addae Commey, who represented the Association of Catholic Heads of Higher Institutions (ACHHI), said it was prudent for society to encourage girls to take technical and vocational education seriously.
