Government To Partner Stakeholders In Educational Sector

Professor Naana Jane Oppoku-Agyemang, Minister of Education, said Government is ready to partner all stakeholders in the educational sector to provide quality education. She said the expansion of educational infrastructure is the Government's priority to help improve teaching and learning in the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary institutions. Prof Oppoku-Agyemang was speaking at the launch of the Ghana Directory of Scholarship and Financial Assistance in Accra on Tuesday. The publication is a collaboration of the African Business Media (ABM) and the Dominion University College (DUC). She said the directory is a source of information for parents and guardians, who are seeking scholarships and financial assistance to support their children's education. Prof Oppoku-Agyemang said the Ghana Education Trust Fund was established to fund educational infrastructure and students in the country and that the fund and the scholarship secretariat is extending 10 and 5 million Ghana Cedis scholarships respectively to students in the country. Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, President of the Dominion University College, said the directory was first initiated and published 14 years ago when he was the Minister of Education (MOE). He said when he was a Minister, parents used to approach him to ask if he or the MOE could finance the education of their wards. Dr Spio-Garbrah said after several months of receiving such request and assisting a number of parents and students, he decided to find a way out of helping those in need. He said the idea of the directory was also communicated to some educational institutions and stakeholders in the educational sector, who thought the idea was useful and supported it. Justice Francis Emile-Short, Former Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, said the objective of the directory is to serve as a one stop access to scholarships and financial assistance to parents. He said this would lessen the burden of both parents and Government in the educational sector and advised student and educational institutions to make the directory available in their various libraries.