New Juaben Traditional Council will on Saturday, 28th October, 2017 award 1300 students from both public and private schools in the Traditional Area.
Omanhene of the Traditional Area, Daasebre Prof. (Emeritus) Oti Boateng announced when he interacted with the media last Friday in Koforidua in the Eastern Region ahead of the ‘Akwantukese’ festival.
The awards according to Daasebre would be an annual event aimed at encouraging competition in learning among pupils from primary, Junior High and Senior High Schools in the area.
The awards, the renowned Statistician note,d were a well taught through scheme to improve the falling standards of education in his area and Ghana as a whole.
He attributed the falling standards of Ghana’s education to the lack of motivation for both teachers and pupils by the state, as well as traditional authorities hence, his desire to institute an annual quiz competition dubbed ‘Akwantukese Schools Quiz Competition’ among the various schools at all levels.
According to Daasebre, the educational policy being rolled out by government was “necessary”, but statistically insufficient.
“Why do you roll out policy that caters for only pupils and students from public schools, what happens to those in private schools? Are they not Ghanaians”, he asked?
Daasebre used the occasion to appeal to teachers whom, he described as one of the three most important pillars in the educational sector to combine the act of teaching with research to enable them become abreast with current trend in teaching and learning.
“Research is key in our daily activities, be it farming, trading, governance as well as teaching. If you are a teacher in this era and you don’t research into your area of teaching you will be outmoded,” he noted.
As part of actives marking the 20th anniversary of the Akwantukese festival of the chiefs and people of New Juaben, some organizations and individuals including the General Manageress of Today Newspaper, Mrs. Vicky Wireko-Andoh paid homage and pledged her support for the upcoming celebration.
The 20th anniversary of the institution of the Akwantukese festival in the traditional area will also coincide with the celebration of the Silver Jubilee Anniversary of Daasebre Oti Boateng’s enstoolment as the Omanhene of New Juaben.
The theme for this year’s celebrations is “Planting of a perpetual seed of holistic education to benefit Ghana”.
Some activities earmarked for the celebration include; procession of Chiefs and people through the principal streets of Koforidua, inauguration of Akwantukese Education Board and the unveiling of trophies for annual Akwantukese quiz competition.
The rest are; presentation of awards to three young engineers of All Nations University who pioneered Ghana’s first satellite into space in July this year, presentation of Daasebre Silver Jubilee Platinum, Gold, Bronze, and Bauxite awards to some deserving individuals and organizations, presentation of Daasebre Award for Excellence and presentation of Daasebre Silver Jubilee Awards for Dedication.
Story: Franklin Asare-Donkoh
