Science Students To Enjoy Incentives

From: StephenKwabena Effah, Kasoa
Monday, 12 December 2005

SPECIAL incentives will be offered to science students in the country’s tertiary institutions from next year, Education Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo has announced.

The move, he said, is to encourage more students to pursue courses in science which is perceived as a difficult subject.

When contacted by the Times, Mr Osafo-Maafo declined to elaborate on the incentives, saying "we will reveal (the details) in January."

Speaking at the first graduation and commissioning of the West End International school here at the weekend, he said the nation could not afford to take education, especially science education, for granted because it plays a vital role in development.

He recalled that in 1959, Ghana and South Korea had the same per capita income but stated that "South Korea is now far ahead of Ghana.

He stressed the need for the nation to place premium on science and quality education which is a prerequisite for accelerated growth and development.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said the ministry was concerned about the quality of teachers coming out of the training colleges in the country and had decided to provide first class libraries and computer laboratories to help them in their training.

He said "much as government appreciates the efforts of private schools to provide education for all of school-going age, profit motivation should not be the main focus of their operation."

He observed that people sent their wards to private schools because they offer quality education and stated that the government was ready to help public schools compete with private schools by creating an enabling environment in all educational institutions to sustain effective teaching and learning in schools.