'S.T.E.M.' Education Prioty to Government - President Akufo-Addo

Government, as part of its educational reforms, is to implement policies and programmes to strengthen and upscale the study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), beginning from the basic level.

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology and Innovation, charged with the responsibility, are expected to enroll more science students in the country's educational system, "so as to achieve our initial target of 60% science students in our technical institutions."

President Akufo-Addo, who made the disclosure at the 20th Convocation and Graduation ceremony of the All Nations University College in Koforidua, in the Eastern Region, yesterday, said his government had drawn up elaborate programmes and strategies to strengthen Technical, Vocational, Education and Training (TVET) at all levels of the educational system.

"It is my conviction that TVET is one of the main strategic policies of government aimed at the development of Ghana's human resources. The major objective of TVET is to prepare people for the job market so that they can be productive and be of use to themselves, their families and society at large," the President added.

Re-affirming his government's commitment to increasing funding for Research and Development (R&D), the President said in the short to medium term, one per cent of GDP would be devoted to that, asserting that "Eventually, this will be raised to 2.5% of GDP in the long term. R&D funds will be made available for all research activities in both public and private educational and research institutions."

Additionally, President Akufo-Addo said, "It will take some time, but I am convinced that eventually Ghana will reap the expected benefits of the policies that have been put in place to transform education," the President said.

Satellite launch

Expressing admiration for a major achievement of the University and on the occasion of their 20th Convocation and Graduation Ceremonies, President Akufo-Addo said "I come here today with a sense of pride in view of your recent achievement in launching GhanaSat-I into space. Indeed, your achievement has put Ghana on the map of nations that are venturing into space."

With the launch of African Union Space Agency for Africa, President Akufo-Addo disclosed that he had directed the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation to mount strongly Ghana's readiness to host the Agency, stating that "Clearly I was motivated to take that decision partly as a result of your recent successful launch of GhanaSat-1."

Admitting that managing a wholly private university in this part of the world is not an easy task, President Akufo-Addo told authorities of the All Nations University College, and other private universities that government had taken measures to lessen their burden.

"The abolishment of the 25% corporate income tax for private universities, and the reduction in power tariffs for educational institutions, including private ones, are some of the measures government has undertaken," he said.

It was the hope of President Akufo-Addo that, "with these reliefs, private universities will plow their profits into the development of educational infrastructure and improve teaching and learning."

Source: ISD (Rex Mainoo Yeboah)

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