JASIKAN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION HOLDS FIRST CONGREGATION (PAGE 11)

THE Principal of the Jasikan College of Education in the Volta Region, Mr G. P. K. Wotordzor, has appealed to Parliament to speed up the legislative process for making the various colleges of education in the country tertiary institutions.
"We have done a lot on our own to push forward the dream of ‘tertiarisation’. We are, therefore, waiting for the legislature or Parliament to pass the bill that will make the colleges of education, tertiary institutions,” he said.
Mr Wotordzor made the appeal on behalf of the 38 training colleges, now colleges of education, at the first congregation of the Jasikan College of Education at Jasikan over the weekend.
In all, diplomas were awarded to 383 newly trained teachers by the University of Cape Coast, after completing their courses of study in 2007 and 2008. One person, Mr Nelson Kotoka, had Second Class Upper, while 33 had Second Class Lower, with 188 in the Third Class and 161 scoring Passes.
He said the passage of the bill would enhance effective teaching and learning in the colleges.
Mr Wotordzor appealed to the government to allow the colleges of education to admit more students to enable them to produce more teachers to fill the existing empty classrooms.
This is because there are currently a lot of schools across the country without qualified teachers, a situation which was hindering that the development of the human resource of the country.
"Therefore, I wish to appeal that the government considers a review of the quota of 900 for the colleges," he noted.
These, the principal noted, called for the expansion of facilities of the colleges to meet the present educational challenges facing the country.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Mrs Elizabeth Amoah Tetteh, said the government was equipping teacher-trainees with the knowledge to impart the necessary knowledge to their pupils in the basic schools.
This is to ensure that the pupils acquired the needed skills for the advancement of the country in this world of technology, stressing that this was in line with the objectives of the National Democratic Congress in taking the education of Information Communication Technology ( ICT) to the greatest heights.
She congratulated the graduates and told them that they were indispensable professionals in the development of the country.
"The country needs a new teacher who will be able to make use of appropriate technology in teaching,” she added.
The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Amenowode, stressed the need to clarify the tertiary status of colleges, and said all the seven colleges in the Volta Region had received their accreditation certificates for 2007, thus placing them on probation for three years.
He pledged the government‘s commitment towards ensuring that they received their tertiary status as soon as possible.
The Member of Parliament for Buem Constituency, Mr Henry Ford Kamel, who is also the Deputy Minister of Lands and Mineral Resources, donated two sets of jerseys and two footballs to the college.