The Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahammudu Bawumia yesterday presented a total of 365 Isuzu Double Cabin Vehicles and 493 motor cycles to the Ministry of Education and its allied agencies in a ceremony at Accra.
In fulfilment of the government’s commitment towards ensuring that the educational sector is adequately resourced to deliver improved learning outcomes in the country, the vehicles and motor cycles are the first batch of the 840 and 2000 procured respectively.
Out of the 365 presented, 260 of the pickups were allocated to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Directorates of the Ghana Education Service (GES), while 10 were given to the MoE.
Other beneficiaries are the GES – 5; National Inspectorate Board – 10, National Council for Curriculum Assessment – 5, National Accreditation Board – 3; Ghana Library Authority – 20; Free Senior High School Secretariat – 10, United Nations Education Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Commission Ghana – 23 and the Funds, Procurement and Management Unit – 3
The rest are Council for Technical and Vocational Education Training – 2; National Teaching Council – 2; Centre for Distance Learning and Open Schooling – 2; the National Board for Professional and Technician Examination – 3; the Non-formal Education – 5 and the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1.
In respect of the 493 motor cycles, allocation was made to Circuit Supervisors of Education in seven out of the 16 regions with the Bono Region receiving 80; the Savannah Region 39; North-East Region 38; Northern Region 89; Upper East Region 111; Upper West Region 85 and the Ahafo Region 51.
The other regions are expected to receive their allocation in the second batch of distribution by the end of next month.
Presenting the vehicles to the beneficiaries, Dr Bawumia said the government of President Akuf0-Addo would continue to invest in the education of its citizens because it was the right thing to do.
He explained that government was of the firm view that if the nation was to make any headway in its quest for economic development and build a resilient and capable society, then particular attention must be paid to the development of its human capital.
He said expanding the knowledge and capabilities of citizens was not only good for the socio-economic development but also good for democracy and how the people were governed.
“This is what drives this government’s commitment to the education sector to ensure that every Ghanaian child has the opportunity to quality education no matter their family circumstance,” he stressed.
Dr Bawumia explained that the roll out of the Free SHS was hinged on the core belief and vision that barrier free access was particularly important in the drive towards an educated population.
He said the President was conscious of the fact that it was simply not enough to put more children in school but there must be a clear and purposeful drive towards ensuring quality learning outcomes.
“We are relentlessly pursuing that path with the view of the KG to primary six curricula, teacher training reforms and a robust school inspection regime among other initiatives,” he said.
He said it was important to appreciate that a director of education was expected to carry out a wide-range of task which included; playing professional, administrative and other non-professional roles.
It was in the light of this that the government was resourcing them with the vehicles, adding that “In addition to the 2000 motor cycles and 840 vehicles, government has procured about 500 buses for the schools and we will be distributing them somewhere in April,” he said.
By Cliff Ekuful