BE SENSITIVE TO ENVIRONMENT (PAGE 51)

THE Catholic Bishop of the Goaso Diocese, Most Reverend Peter Kwaku Atuahene, has advised teachers to be sensitive to the environment and help protect it from destruction.
He expressed concern about the indiscriminate dumping of refuse and, therefore, urged teachers to inculcate in their children the habit of keeping their environment clean.
Most Rev. Atuahene gave the advice when he addressed the graduation ceremony of the St Joseph’s College of Education (JOSCO) at Bechem in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The ceremony, on the theme: "Quality teachers for quality education in Ghana", coincided with the 61st Joseph’s Day celebration of the Catholic Church.
In all, about 241 students were presented with diploma certificates.
Most Rev. Atuahene urged the graduantes to accept posting to rural areas and help the less fortunate children in the society to develop their God-given talents.
"In doing so, you must work within the framework of national priorities set by the Ministry of Education and Science", he stated.
Bishop Atuahene stated that the graduation ceremony marked the end of one level of their education but ushered them to another, which he described as "The school of life", explaining that that level of education took a lifetime to complete.
He emphasised that in order to be good students of the school of life, they needed God as their companion and mentor, adding that "Life has a lot to teach you and your success or failures will depend on your faith in him".
The bishop, however, urged the government to make the teaching profession more attractive by providing incentives, especially to teachers working in deprived areas.
The Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University College at Fiapre, near Sunyani, Professor James H. Ephraim, observed that quality education was needed by every country seeking to develop the quality of life of her citizens.
He said quality education should be suitable to the particular destiny of the individuals, adapted to their ability, sex and natural cultural traditions, and should be conducive to fraternal relations with other nations, in order to promote true unity and peace in the world.
The Principal of the college, Mr C.D.B. Mensah, in his report, stated that the college that started with 24 students in 1948, currently had a student population of 814 comprising of 217 females and 597 males.
He said in addition to the regular students, the college was training 700 untrained teachers and also offering a course for 742 Certificate "A" Teachers preparing for the diploma in basic education by the distance and sandwich programmes.
Two former students of the college, Sir Knight Fosuaba Mensah Banahene, the Administrator of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETund),and Mr Peter Atta Bimpeh, a business executive, were honoured for their distinguished contributions towards the growth of their alma mater.