Take advantage of opportunities available - Students advised

The Association Community Model Basic School (ACMBS) at Labone, in Accra has held its Speech and Prize-giving Day with a call on students to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.

In a speech delivered on his behalf by Mr Tony Baffoe, the Head of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Ministry of Education; a Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, called on students to work hard and also be disciplined in order to have a bright future.

Speaking on the theme: ‘’Developing Critical Thinking in School; a task for all’’, the minister said education played an important role in building a highly skilled and innovative society.

According to him, “most advanced nations were not necessarily advanced due to abundant natural resources, but  because they have invested in the education of their people.”

Graduation

A total number of 56 students who wrote the just-ended Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) were taken through a graduation ceremony.

Pupils who performed well in the pre-school, lower and upper primaries were rewarded for excellent performance in their studies.

Some selected teachers also received prizes for their efforts to improve education and student welfare in the school.

Critical thinking

Dr Adutwum added that for a society to be innovative and remain competitive, it required the key skill of critical thinking, promoted through quality education.

“Critical teaching is not achieved through rote learning, but rather teaching children how to learn, question and pursue their own path of thinking and exploration,” he said.

He also mentioned that reforms were being implemented in the colleges of education to ensure that the teacher, who was at the centre of education was properly equipped to drive the educational agenda.

Challenges

The Headmaster of the ACMBS, Mr Daniel Nii Adjetey Adjei, enumerated some challenges confronting the school and appealed to the appropriate authorities to help address them.

He said the school required new classroom blocks to ease congestion, as well as an ICT laboratory and equipment in order to promote hands-on teaching and learning.

Advice

For his part, the Chairman of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), Mr Meister Afriyie, charged the new graduates to remain focused on their dreams.

He also urged them to put into practice what they had been taught, as they moved to their next stage of education.