Nana Kobina Nketsia V, the Omanhen of Essikado Traditional Area in the Western Region has stated that “children in Ghana are like eaglets” who needs to be nurtured and conscientized by the stakeholders in the educational sector to ‘fly’ in the future.
He said the educational sector of the country’s economy was a conscious one and for that matter, educators must rise up against all odds to enlighten the citizens especially, the youth who were the future of the country.
The Omanhen was speaking at the opening ceremony of a 3-day Maiden Annual Educational Retreat Workshop organised by the Western Regional Directorate of GES held at the Akroma Plaza Hotel in Takoradi under the theme, “Re-Imagining Education: The Western Story.”
He lauded the members of the Western Regional Directorate for their innovation and resolution to put education on the cutting-edge in the region and further charged them to “let the Western Regional standard take over the country.”
He implored the participants not to do business as usual but step up their bid in raising discerning leaders and charged them to come out with a unique performance after the workshop.
Nana Nketsia V further charged the participants to brace themselves up so as to surmount all challenges and hurdles confronting them in their respective districts.
Mrs Felicia Agyeibea Okai, Western Regional Director of Education in a presentation bemoaned what she called “presentism” on the part of headteachers where they are present in the school but not supervising the work of teachers.
She observed that sometimes teachers report to school or maybe in the classroom but may resort to doing petty trading against their mandate leaving the children to loiter about in the classroom.
She, therefore, implored the headteachers to be instructional and transformational leaders and be alive to their roles as supervisors in order to achieve ‘time on task’ so that instructional hours were not misused or wasted.
Mr Frederick Agyemang, Western Regional Coordinating Director (RCD) who represented the Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah said the program was very important to the overall growth and development of the education sector and matters that surround it, especially in the region.
He said since the inception of Ghana Education Service into the public service domain in 1974, it has relentlessly laid down strategies to ensure that all Ghanaian children were provided with inclusive and equitable quality formal education to ensure that the all-round development of the Ghanaian citizen was achieved as the core mandate of GES demands.
He stressed that the theme for the workshop creates awareness for the urgent need to reimagine education in the Western Region in other for our education system to keep pace with the various transformations in the world.
He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic saw the disruption of almost all existing education pathways but, provided an impetus for the development of a comprehensive plan for the transformation of Ghana’s education system.
He admonished them and said participants were the leaders and champions in the provision of education and training to the teeming youth of the country.
“The successes or failures of your institutions depend largely on your leadership and management style. Never say it is enough in the pursuit of your professional and academic career endeavours. Always strive for the best in everything you do. What others have achieved in the other worlds, you can also do and do better”, he opined.
Story: Seth A Danquah
