Leverage New Year School for sustainable development
The Ghanaian Times is back on the newsstand today after the Christmas break and those of us working on the newspaper wish our cherished readers a “Happy and Prosperous New Year”.
We are glad to open the year with some views about the New Year School and Conference, simply referred to by some as the New Year School, which opened at the University of Ghana, Legon, yesterday.
As an annual event, this year’s is the 75th and on the theme ‘Nurturing Resilience: Adopting Technology And Embracing Humanism For Sustainable Development.’ (See our story on page 11)
The school is important because it brings together academics, policymakers, leadership of civil society organisations, business leaders and other stakeholders, who discuss critical issues of both national and global nature and see how best Ghana can benefit from them for its development and progress.
While opening the 75th Annual New Year School and Conference yesterday, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumi, confirmed this importance when he said successive governments, including the current one, had over the past 75 years benefited immensely from the productive outcomes, innovative ideas and constructive criticisms that had emerged from it.
He explained that such contributions had shaped policy decisions and directions over the years by addressing critical issues regarding the national economy, education, nation building, democracy and elections, as well other topical issues carefully selected to tackle peculiar challenges at any point in the history of Ghana.
We wish to say that there are currently challenges that appear to defy solution but need urgent tackling whether they are discussed at the New Year School or not.
Such challenges include the lack of law enforcement in the country, which has festered acts of lawlessness that sometimes defy the understanding of good citizens.
The theme for this year’s New Year School, ‘Nurturing Resilience: Adopting Technology And Embracing Humanism For Sustainable Development’, is truly apt but this cannot bear the expected fruits if negative attitudes in the country are not changed.
It is sad to say that some of the negative attitudes have tacit support of certain personalities who should know better, including politicians and chiefs.
We see the timing of the New Year School and Conference in January, the first month of the year, as appropriate.
This is because some of the issues raised border on the evaluation of challenges in the year gone by and stakeholders can have the opportunity to make amends.
The country can see the development it envisages only when its leaders can adopt ways like laws and their enforcement to contain negative attitudes that mar progress.
This year is critical for the country because it is an election year and we know the negative things associated with elections in the country.
However, we want to appeal that all stakeholders should use the New Year School as the reference point of advice to eschew violence and maintain the peace in the country.
We also expect that every Ghanaian will leverage all the issues raised at the three-day event for the country’s progress in all sectors of its economy.
