KWAHU NORTH SELECTS SHS LEAVERS ...For admission to colleges of education (PAGE 20)

EFFORTS to address the acute shortage of teachers in the Kwahu North (Afram Plains) District were given a practical meaning when 96 prospective senior high school (SHS) graduates in the area, at Donkokrome were identified for admission to colleges of education.
The registration and the initial admission fees of successful students would be borne by the Kwahu North District Assembly.
The students, who were among 200 other SHS graduates, had aggregate 24 or better, and were to attend interviews scheduled for July, this year at the six Colleges of education in the Eastern Region.
On passing the interviews, they would then be enrolled in the Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong-Akuapem; the Presbyterian College of Education, Kyebi; the Presbyterian Women’s College of Education, Aburi; the Abetifi College of Education, Abetifi; the Seventh-Day Adventist College of Education, Koforidua or the Mount Mary College of Education, Somanya.
Upon completion, the students would be required to go back to the district and teach, to help fill the vacant classrooms facing most of the basic schools on the island.
The exercise, supervised by the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, and conducted by the principals of the six colleges in the region, has been described as a special one for the prospective students from the area.
This is because admission of prospective students to other colleges of education across the country ended last month.
The exercise was the brainchild of Mr Ofosu Ampofo, whose recent tour of the area revealed that most of the basic schools were being handled by a handful of teachers.
In an address prior to the exercise, the Kwahu North District Director of Education, Mr Gabriel Adu, said about 200 classrooms in the area were without teachers, a situation that had contributed to the poor performance of the pupils and students over the years.
Reacting, Mr Ampofo said he had decided to seek the technical advice of the principals of the various colleges of education so as to find long term solutions to the poor standard of education in the region, especially in the Kwahu North.
“It is only when we provide a window of hope for students to acquire knowledge and skills at our colleges of education that they can be in a better position to impact passively and uplift the standard of education in the region and the country at large,” had he stated.
He, therefore, urged students to take advantage of the offer to enable them to add “value to yourselves and help eradicate ignorance, diseases and poverty in your district”.
For his part, Mr Osei commended the Regional Minster for his commitment to addressing the disparity of teacher — pupil ratio that of females in the area, noting that such efforts would enhance teaching and learning in the area.
He pledged the reading of the Conference of the Principals of Colleges of Education to work with all stakeholders to address teacher shortages in the region.
The Kwahu North District Chief Executive, Mr Charles Evans Apreku, expressed the commitment of the assembly to sponsoring the registration and admission fees of students who would gain admission to the various colleges.