EXHIBIT DISCIPLINE IN ALL SPHERES OF LIFE (PAGE 40)

THE Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Prof. Ken A. Attafuah, has advised students to exhibit discipline in all spheres of their lives to reverse the gross indiscipline that had eaten into the moral fibre of society.
He also urged them to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded them by the high school education to develop their aptitudes and skills, which would be required of them as future leaders.
“To stay focused and determined to achieve your God-given potentials, you must avoid the practices of occultism, “sakawa”, 491, computer fraud, drug experimentation and drug trafficking, which are all detrimental to your personal development,” Prof. Attafuah stressed.
Speaking at the 30th anniversary of the Osino Presbyterian Senior High School (SHS) in the Eastern Region over the weekend, Prof. Attafuah reminded students that “your discipline will be a most prized asset as Ghana enters an era of oil drilling, oil exploitation and oil-generated wealth”.
He was speaking on the topic,“Discipline: A road map for future leaders”.
Prof. Attafuah stated that one of the greatest causes of the country’s underdevelopment was indiscipline at both individual and collective levels in society.
He particularly attributed the indiscipline among the youth to be largely a reflection of the indiscipline among the adults, a situation which he said was gradually undermining the country’s progress.
“A reflection of the indiscipline among us is the endless carnage on our roads, environmental degradation, reckless urban development planning, electoral and examination malpractice, falsification of examination results that undermine the integrity of our educational qualifications and the presumption of certified competence,” he stated.
Prof. Attafuah, therefore, reminded the youth of the huge role expected of them to help create a disciplined and lawful society, where they could grow up to fully develop their potentials to be useful to themselves and society.
“My dear students, Ghana looks up to you for a vibrant and visionary leadership in improving the tone of discipline in our country,” he said, adding that “if we are to combat indiscipline at all levels in society, we must be committed to the principles of natural justice, human rights, taking personal responsibility for our actions and building a strong personal character”.
On students agitation, Prof. Attafuah stated that lack of mutual trust and respect, mis-governance, repression of students concerns by school authorities had often resulted in avoidable students disturbances, demonstrations, vandalism and lawlessness, as well as poor student performance.
He, therefore, advised school authorities to adopt participatory methods of governance and show sincere evidence of addressing students’ concerns.
For his part, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said since the socio-economic development of every nation depended largely on the level of education of its citizens, the government had made education a high priority on its agenda.
He, therefore, urged the students to concentrate on their books and shun social vices that could be detrimental to their personal development.
On HIV/AIDS, Mr Ampofo cautioned the youth to avoid lifestyles that could predispose them to the pandemic, stressing that “as students, the best way to avoid the disease is through abstinence and shunning the bad company”.
The Headmaster of the school, Mr Kwadwo A. Sakyi, appealed to the government to help complete an 800-seater capacity assembly hall block, a four-unit science laboratory complex and a computer science laboratory to enhance teaching and learning.