Gov’t presents vehicles, motorbikes to education directorates

By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA

Accra, March 12, GNA - Government on Thursday presented 365 ISUZU Double Cabin Pickup trucks and 493 motorbikes to Education Directorates and Offices across the country to facilitate their work and enhance effective monitoring and supervision.

Two hundred and sixty (260) of the vehicles are allocated to the metropolitan, municipal and district education offices while the remaining 105 would be distributed to the Ministry of Education and its agencies.

The breakdown of the distribution are as follows: Ministry of Education-10,Ghana Education Service-five, Ghana Inspectorate Board-30, National Council on Curriculum Assessment-five, Ghana Accreditation Board- three, Ghana Library Authority-20,Free SHS Secretariat-10,UNESCO Commission of Ghana-23, Fund Procurement Unit-three, COTVET-two, National Teaching Council-two, Centre for Distance Learning-two, National Board for Professional and Technical Examination Unit-three, Non-Formal Education Unit-two and Encyclopedia Botanica-one. 

The fleet of vehicles forms part of the first batch of Pickup trucks and motorbikes procured by Government, through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund) for distribution to the education directorates.

In all, Government has procured 840 Pickup trucks, 350 buses for SHSs and 2,000 motorbikes to aid the work of circuit supervisors and the vehicles are expected to be distributed by the end of April to ensure quality learning outcomes.

At a ceremony at the Independence Square in Accra, Vice President Bawumia symbolically presented the keys to the education authorities on behalf of President Akufo-Addo, for onward distribution to the beneficiary education directorates.

The event was attended by Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Education Minister, Professor Kwasi Opoku Amankwa, Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Benjamin Kofi Gyasi, Chief Director of the Ministry of Education (MoE), heads of agencies, metropolitan, municipal and district directors of education, as well as circuit supervisors and traditional authorities.

Vice President Bawumia said if the nation would make any headway in economic development and build a resilient society, it was imperative to prioritise human capital development.

He said it was that motivation that pushed President Akufo-Addo-led administration to prioritise education and thus, introduced the Free Senior High School (FSHS) Policy in September 2017 to ensure no child was left behind.

The FSHS Policy, he said, had been largely successful with 1.2 million children benefitting under the policy, which was an improvement over the 800,000 enrolment figure the nation witnessed before its implementation.

Dr Bawumia noted that it was not enough to put children to school, but the government was providing the requisite infrastructure and logistics to the education sector to ensure purposeful learning outcomes.

Additionally, it was undertaking various curriculum and administrative reforms at the Kindergarten, basic and second cycle education levels as well as teacher training institutions for quality learning outcomes.

The Vice President asked the beneficiaries to take good care of the vehicles to serve the purpose for which they were acquired and gave the assurance that Government would continue to invest in the education sector to meet the needs of the 21st century.

Mr Benjamin Kofi Gyasi, the Chief Director of the MoE, in his welcome address, said the Ministry was undertaking a number of education reforms to improve learning outcomes and commended GETfund for supporting that effort.

Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Education Minister, in brief remarks, said Government since assumption of office in 2017 had been undertaking education reforms, infrastructure development and implementing Curriculum Teaching Policy to guide teaching and learning and was of the conviction that those reforms would soon yield positive results.

Prof. Opoku Amankwa, the Director-General of the GES, on behalf of the beneficiaries, thanked the government for the logistical support and pledged to take good care of them.

GNA

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