“POVERTY NO LONGER A BARRIER TO EDUCATION IN GHANA” – PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says his Government has ensured that poverty is no longer a stumbling block to the access of education of Ghana’s children, as a result of the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy in September 2017.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “I am glad that we are now able to say that education in the public sector is free from Kindergarten to Senior High School, which we have redefined as basic education. This initiative has resulted in a significant increase in pupil enrollment, with 1.2 million children currently in Senior High School, the highest in our nation’s history.”
The President made this known on Wednesday, 25th September 2019, when he delivered a statement at the 30th Anniversary of the adoption of the convention on the Rights of the Child”, on the sidelines of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
With Ghana being the first country to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, he stated that “we have never been in doubt about the heavy responsibility that goes with Ghana’s position as a trailblazer of the Convention, and have, since its ratification, enacted national legislation, and instituted reforms in education, healthcare, and social protection systems, all aimed at translating the relevant provisions of the Convention into policy and action.”
Describing the world’s children as “our greatest treasure today”, President Akufo-Addo explained that beyond their protection, world leaders must invest in their development.
“When I stand before the children of Ghana and look into the eyes of Ghana's future, Ghana's tomorrow, I am reminded that I must work harder to guarantee that knowledge and well-being become the backbone of the modern, prosperous economy we are trying to construct,” he said.
The President continued, “Knowledge, knowledge and more knowledge is the only way by which we can rid our society of ignorance, poverty, and disease, and, thereby, accelerate progress towards a better future for our children”.
Ghana, President Akufo-Addo told the event, has also made considerable progress in reducing childhood mortality and morbidity, through effective national immunization campaigns and universal coverage of primary healthcare for all Ghanaians, particularly children.
“We are committed to ending child marriage, and eradicating all forms of child labor, trafficking, and slave-like practices, in line with SDG 8. ‘Operation Get off the Street Now for a Better Life’ has been initiated, and the Ghana Child Labour Monitoring Information System (GCLMIS) has been re-activated,” he said.
In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the adoption of this Convention, the President urged the gathering to remember the words of the late Secretary-General of the United Nations, who, at the Special Session of the UN for Children in New York on May 2002, said, “history will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children”.
JOHN BOADU COMMISSIONS PARTY OFFICE; DONATES VEHICLES TO ALL THE SIX NEWLY CREATED REGIONS
The General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, on Sunday, September 22, 2019, commissioned a party office at Busunya, the capital of the Nkoranza North constituency to be used as the constituency party office. The office was built and donated to the party by the Constituency Chairman, Emmanuel Amofah Asafo-Adjei, with support from the General Secretary and one, Jacqueline Boatema Bonsu, a constituency patron.
In his remarks at a short ceremony to officially outdoor the office complex, which was witnessed by the chiefs and people of Nkoranza North, John Boadu commended the constituency chairman who doubles as the main financier of the project for the initiative and called on other members of the party to emulate this feat. The NPP chief scribe also thanked the paramount chief of the area, Nana Okofo Gyaabah II and his subjects for their agelong loyalty and support to the electoral fortunes of the NPP.
John Boadu charged the constituency officers and all persons that will be responsible for the upkeep of the office to rise to the occasion and make the best use of the office complex to derive maximum benefits. To this end, he donated computers and other accessories to the constituency office and also supported them with an undisclosed amount of money.
In another development, the NPP General Secretary, John Boadu, used the occasion to officially handover a brand new pickup to each of the six newly created regions of the country comprising Ahafo, North East, Oti, Western North, Savanna and Bono East Regions, through the respective regional chairmen or their representatives to support their operational activities for a start with the assurance that more resources shall come in due course.
Mr. John Boadu also indicated that the national party will soon make available more resources including vehicles to, not only the regions but also, to all the 275 constituencies to make them more effective for the upcoming 2020 electioneering campaign. He said the party leadership will stop at nothing in their quest to empowering party grassroots and strengthening party structures for victory 2020.
The occasion was graced by the Bono East Regional Minister, Hon Kofi Amoakohene; The Board Chair for Ghana Infrastructure Fund and Former Minister of State, Prof Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi; A Former MP for Nkoranza South and Deputy Energy Minister, Hon Twumasi Ampofo; The Bono East Regional Chairman of the NPP, Hon Thomas Abeam; The Ahafo Regional Chairman, Kwabena Owusu Sekyere; The Western North Chairman, William Asua; The DCE for Nkoranza North District, Hon Gifty Akosa and a host of party executives and sympathisers.
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