MoFA Launches ‘Women in Driving Seat’

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September 12, 2018

By: Christopher Pappoe | Voltaonlinegh.com |

The Mechanisation Department of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) on Friday, September 7 launched Women in Driving Seat programme at the Adidome Farm Institute in the Central Tongu District of the Volta Region.

According to the Ministry, the programme seeks to develop women’s skills in managing agricultural machinery and equipment for enhanced agricultural productivity in Ghana. The objectives they said are to increase women’s employability and earning potentials particularly in the field of mechanised agriculture.

The Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Mr George Oduro who was present to launch the programme on behalf of the government, lauded the Ministry for coming up with such a laudable idea that involves women.

He promised the participants a secured job after the programme and added that it is government’s plan to get more women involved in agriculture especially in mechanisation. He added that government has planned to build mechanisation centres across the country and that he will ensure women who have undergone the Women in Driving Seat programme manage these centres.

Mr Anthony Morrison who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana commended the Ministry for making efforts to balance gender in all they do and asked the women to be strong and never quit since many of them might find things difficult along the line.

He advised them against the notion that some jobs are for men only and some also for women only and asked that more women take advantage of the Chamber’s upcoming West Africa Drones and Censors Conference which will come off from 16th-18th October this year in order to network with value chain actors from other countries.

The Director in charge of Women in Agriculture at MoFA, Madam Paulina Ardey in explaining the concept of Women in Driving Seat, said Ghanaian women can be found in different aspects of the value chain except for land preparation, thus, the Ministry has decided to institute the programme to introduce women to tractor driving and maintenance.

The programme is set to last for one month after which trainees are expected to acquire the necessary knowledge and practical skills to operate, maintain tractors and its related equipment.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Regional Minister Tours Schools as Double Track Begins

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Volta Online

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September 12, 2018

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Double track (2) — Dr. Letsa and his entourage being briefed at the OLA SHS

By: Ewoenam Kpodo|Voltaonlinegh.com|

The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa has embarked on a day’s tour to some five senior high schools (SHS) in the region to monitor admission of fresh students for the commencement of the free SHS double track system.

The Minister’s tour on Tuesday, September 11 of the schools was to have first-hand information from the school heads and staff of the institutions on the implementation of the free SHS and the double track system, the first of its kind to be implemented in the country.

The schools visited included Tanyigbe SHS, OLA SHS, Sokode SHS, Mawuli SHS and Mawuko Girls SHS, all in the Ho Municipality.

Dr Letsa in his message at the schools visited, called on all to have faith in the government for a successful implementation of the free SHS policy and the double track system. He said the new system being introduced for the 2018/2019 academic year is nothing strange as it is being run in other parts of the world.

He touted the prospects of the new system and appealed to the staff who he claimed would one day become “consultants on the double track system” to lead the crusade and disabuse the minds of people against the system.

“A lot of people are skeptical about the double track but you’re here experiencing it and you’ll experience it more so that you tell others that it is no harmful policy. It is just to make sure that no child is left in the house.”

Dr Letsa said the system has been adopted to forestall infrastructure challenges encountered during the introduction of the free SHS policy last year and assured the staff, students and parents that government will still support infrastructure development in the schools.

Regional Director of Education, Madam Enyonam Afi Amafugah who was also on the tour, charged the staff to be committed in seeing the system succeed.

She advised the teachers to be hardworking and show love to their students so that the students can in the future, remember them for the good reasons and be proud of them.

The school heads gave accounts of the ongoing admission of new students with some of them citing network problems for the delay in the registration process as evident in Mawuli School (which received 972 new postings to the school, the highest number in the region) where there were long queues of students waiting for their turn to register.

There were also the issues of students from different districts, municipalities and regions posted to the schools as day students and in some cases, students for both Green and Gold tracks were reporting at the same which the various heads were asked to deal with to ensure the students were not affected in any way.

The school heads assured the Regional Minister and his entourage of their readiness to support the implementation of the new system in line with government’s objective to give every school child access to free senior high school in the country.

The double track system which runs in some categories of public senior high schools in the country, creates a calendar of two semesters in a year for the SHS 1 class, containing 81 days per each semester and 41 days of vacation for a sandwich class. Under the new system which has the Green track starting the session, teaching hours are increased from six hours per day to eight hours per day.

Also on Tuesday’s tour were the Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Free SHS Regional Coordinator, Ho Municipal Director of Education and Staff of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Tennis Club Elects New Executives at Asogli ‘Te Za’ tourney

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Volta Online

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September 10, 2018

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HTC (2) — The new executives of Ho Tennis club

By: Davis Nii Attuquaye Clottey|voltaonlinegh.com|

The Ho Tennis Club (HTC) has elected into office, new executives during the Asogli ‘Te Za’ (Yam festival) Tennis Tournament at the Ho Tennis Court over the weekend.

The 6-member Executive who went unopposed had the support of members of the Club to steer its affairs for the next 3 years at the election held on Sunday, September 9, 2018. Apart from the General Secretary, Macliberty Misrowoda, who had gone for his second term, all others were new.

Dr Elorm Bansah and Dr Michael Quarshie are Chairman and Vice respectively, while Harrison Kofi Belley occupies the Treasurer position. Elikem Darkeh and Peter Akpe complete the six, as Financial Secretary and Organizer respectively.

Secretary, Togbe Macliberty Misrowoda said the club operates with unity; the reason for the unopposed officials after nomination was closed.

“Well, I think it is about all of us. This is all about unity as it is not a political ground. That is why you saw that there was no election; we only affirm the people because we look at you and see whether you have the capacity to do what you have been assigned to do. And we all have that capacity. The outgoing, some think they are tired and need to rest, I didn’t do anything extraordinary, and members think I should just continue with the work we are doing.”

The much anticipated tournament which saw 6 clubs converge at Ho from different locations was disrupted by the inconsistent downpour on Saturday. However, some non-scoring games were played at intervals amidst networking and fun.

All 5 expected clubs; TOR, AMTECH, Maritime, Tarkwa Goldfields together with debutants 4BN from Kumasi came in their numbers but had no regrets.

According to the Secretary of HTC, they still achieved their aims despite the rains.

“You know how it has always been, the Asogli Te Za tournament has always been about fun; having fun and fraternizing so the game is just one aspect of it. And I think that largely even though the game was disrupted, members are still playing today, last night, all clubs that came played good games. Yes, the rain didn’t help us that much, but I think our aims have been achieved, we had fun.”

The Stanbic Bank Asogli Te Za Tennis Tournament promises to come back better and bigger next year as AMTECH from Accra remains the defending champions.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Ho Zongo Wins 2018 Asogli Te Za Community Football Gala

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Volta Online

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September 10, 2018

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Ho Zongo team (2) — Team Ho Zongo, emerged Winners of 2018 Asogli Te za Community gala in Ho

By: Eric Eli Adzie|Voltaonlinegh.com|

Ho Zongo emerged winners of the 2018 edition of the Asogli Te Za community football gala held at the Ho Sports Stadium.

The 3-day gala which ended on Sunday, September 9 saw 8 teams challenging for community supremacy and cup glory as part of the 2018 Te Za (Yam Festival) celebration of the people of Asogli state.

Ho Zongo was impressive in all their previous games before crowning it with a stylish 3-1 victory over Ho Dome, their bitterest rivals.

Sylvester Smith Adjetey scored directly from a 35-yard free kick in the 2nd minute of the game after goalkeeper Dzado Kissinger was way off lines to put Zongo in the lead. The atmosphere got charged up and electrifying when winger Toufiqka Abubaka doubled their advantage in the 16th minute after being laid a through pass.

Ho Dome then pulled one back on the 22nd minute after substitute Nasiru Mohammed who made a cameo for Constant Danso scored after two minutes of his introduction.

The second half of the game saw Dome putting much pressure on Zongo to get the equalizer but couldn’t utilise the numerous chances that fell their way.

Ibrahim Abraham capitalised on another mistake by the goalkeeper of Dome, Dzado Kissinger in the 2 additional minutes to consolidate their victory.

As part of their crowning moment, the champions went home with a Set of Jersey, One Football and an undisclosed amount of cash.

By: www.voltaonlinegh.com

52nd International Literacy Day marked in Ho

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Volta Online

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September 10, 2018

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By: Ewoenam Kpodo|voltaonlinegh.com|HO

The Ghana office of Engage Now Africa (ENA), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in collaboration with Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) has marked this year’s International Literacy Day (ILD) at Ho-Bankoe EP Primary Park in the Volta Region.

The International Literacy Day is observed every September 8 to raise people’s awareness of and concern for literacy problems within their communities.

Saturday’s observance which was on the theme: “Literacy and Skills Development” saw exhibition of products by some learners who acquired skills training ENA while another group performed drama to educate the public on the dangers of open defecation with others performing different roles on the day.

ENA, a development-focused NGO which is present in Ghana and four other African countries – Sierra Leone, Namibia, Uganda and Ethiopia – has been a champion of numerous development initiatives since 2002 in a bid to help people out of poverty.

Speaking on the sideline of the event, Country Director of ENA, Cecilia Amankwah said the enthusiasm of the learners was telling of the success of the literacy programme.

Country Director of ENA, Cecilia Amankwa speaking to journalists

She said ENA’s aim is to champion interventions to fight poverty and improve the lives of beneficiaries and at the heart of those interventions is the literacy programme.

“Poverty as we all know can never be solved with just one solution. We believe that we have multiple things to put together to enable us solve or eradicate poverty in Africa.”

She underscored the impact of the literacy programme on the learners, saying, “just learning how to read and write made them to gain their self-esteem and self-confidence.”

Madam Amankwah said the way forward was to extend the literacy programme to the remaining two regions- Brong Ahafo and Upper West regions citing problems of location, trainers and facilitators and called for support from government and other NGOs “tailoring their work of programme on what ENA is doing” to elevate the people out of poverty.

Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Maxwell Blagodzi in a speech commended ENA, and other NGOs including Pencils of Promise and Voice-Ghana for helping to reduce illiteracy in the region.

Mr. Maxwell Blagodzi, Deputy Volta regional minister

Mr. Blagodzi considered literacy as a human right “which must be protected and promoted. To him, it has more to do other than just reading and writing.

“Literacy is not limited to only the ability to read and write in foreign language but also the ability to read and write in one’s own language. Furthermore, literacy is not limited to only the ability to read and write but also has to do with the ability to understand what one reads.”

The Deputy Regional Minister said though the 1992 Constitution recognised the critical role of literacy in the nation’s development and made basic education free and compulsory in the country, over 2 decades, “it will interest you to know that about 20 per cent of our adult population aged 15 and above are considered illiterates.”

He said as a resolve to address the menace, the current government has shown commitment to make basic education free, compulsory and available to all” with the implementation of the free senior high school policy.

He assured that the Volta Regional Coordinating Council on its part will work closely with NFED, NGOs and other stakeholders in education to reduce illiteracy in the region.

MP for Ho Central, Benjamin Kpodo urged officials of NFED to work hard to promote literacy in the country.

He advised the learners to keep themselves open to learn from various sources in addition to their evening classes. He asked them to listen to and watch news as that provide an avenue to learn of new things and take lessons from speakers at various social gatherings especially the church.

By: Ewoenam Kpodo/voltaonlinegh.com

Krachi East Assembly highlights Gov’t Programmes at Town Hall Meeting

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Volta Online

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September 9, 2018

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KRACHI (2) — Stephen Adai, Regional director of ISD

By: Kingsley Mamore|voltaonlinegh.com|

The Information Services Department (ISD) in collaboration with the Krachi East Municipal Assembly in the Volta Region has organised a town hall meeting at St Aquinas Roman Catholic Church, Dambai.

The meeting was aimed at interacting with the various segments of the society and also to create a platform for them to ask relevant questions on development issues as well as the utilisation of the assembly’s resources to improve lives of the citizenry.

The meeting highlighted government’s flagship policies such as planting for food and jobs, nations builders corps (NABCO), free senior high school (SHS) policy among others. It also created an opportunity for the people to be involved in local decision making processes which are key tenets of good governance.

Various heads of departments at the meeting

Mr. Stephen Adai, Volta Regional Director of ISD said government is taking steps to ensure that the free SHS policy is sustainable. He also mentioned that the number of students to gain admission into SHS this academic year will be triple that of the 2016/2017 year.

The Municipal Chief Executive for the area, Mr. Jilima Patrick presented to the people some of the programs, projects and activities as well as the policy decision that the assembly was implementing for sustainable development through a broader and effective consensus building with the public.

Mr. Jilima Patrick touched on administration, revenue mobilization, public expenditure and financial accountability, education, health, sanitation, infrastructure as well as security situation in the municipality.

He called on all opinion leaders, the clergy, stakeholders and the general public to support government’s initiatives so that the available resources could be utilised effectively to propel the assembly to an enviable level that guarantees shared growth and prosperity for all in the municipality.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Agbeko Defends WBO Title as Polopala Knocks out Kublie

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Volta Online

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September 9, 2018

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Agbeko (1) — 'King Kong' Agbeko retained his WBO Africa Bantamweight Title (Image:Skef fotos)

By: Davis Nii Attuquaye Clottey|voltaonlinegh.com|

Two-time former World Champion Joseph ‘King Kong’ Agbeko has successfully defended his WBO Africa Bantamweight Title, courtesy a round 10 Technical Knockout against Ekow Wilson at the Woezor Hotel in Ho.

The bout, put together by Aborigines Promotion with support from the Volta Regional Boxing Federation saw 10 thrilling undercards plus exhibition fights on Saturday, September 8, 2018.

The Fresh King Kong who began the fight carefully in round 1 quickly realized his opponent’s weakness and started to capitalize on it. With knockout on his mind, Agbeko kept on chasing Wilson round the ring with jabs and hooks. Wilson, on few occasions had the better of Agbeko with exchanges of punches. In round 7, fatigue set in for both boxers but Agbeko showed more resilience as the rousing supporters cheered him up to victory. Ekow Wilson’s corner threw in the towel in round 10, after the boxer admitted he couldn’t continue the fight again.

Agbeko and Wilson in Action on the night (Image:Skef fotos)

An elated Agbeko was grateful to the support from the people of Ho and promised to climb back to the higher levels in Boxing for World Titles. King Kong now has 35 wins, 26 by TKO in his total of 40 fights.

Anama Dotse ‘Polopala’ left the ring earlier than expected from the exotic audience after knocking out his Ugandan challenger Sani Yidana Kublie in round 2. The non-title bout saw Polopala increase his Knockouts to 15, with 1 loss. The Super Lightweight contest saw Kublie failing to throw a blow, which brought the fight to an end in 2:14secs into the second round.

Anama Dotse aka ‘Polopala’ in an undercut with Ugandan Sani Yidana Kublie

Another intriguing and arguably the toughest fight on the night, was between Ghana’s Kwesi Tutu ‘Dark Destroyer’ and Togolese John Koudeha ‘Africa Mike Tyson’. The Catch weight division contest which traveled all 8 rounds saw the cards 74-78, 74-80 and 72-80 for Koudeha.

It looked like Kick boxing from start to finish, as Nathaniel Nukpe, lost by majority decision 77-75, 77-77, 79-75 to Moses Dodze in the Lightweight category. In the same division, Samuel Klutse Tordzro ‘Powers’ knocked out Ben Cofi in round 3.

It was a night of knockouts as Dodze Kemeh forced his opponent Francis Mensah to bring the fight to an end in the fifth round of the Welterweight contest. Victus Kemavor also ensured a round 2 knockout victory against Emmanuel Allotey.

In the Super Welterweight, Jibril Mohammed knocked out James Aryee in round one, while Abraham Osei Bonsu knocked out Jonathan Yartey in round 2 of the Super Featherweight contest. Charles Adamu defeated David Okai via a round 2 TKO in the Super Middleweight before Success Tetteh finished off Saidu Amadu in round 1 of the Featherweight bout.

The Rumble and Homecoming Night which was also used as one of the activities to mark the celebration of the 2018 Asogli ‘Te Za’ (Yam Festival) saw the regional Boxing Body encourage the people to help develop the sport in the region by coming in their numbers whenever there is a bout. The VRBF couldn’t have stepped out of the ring without appreciating the good works of Aborigines Promotion, in helping to promote the sport in the region and beyond.

The bout was also made possible by the kindest sponsorship of Concrete Alliance, FC Cosmetics, and DMM.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com|Photos by Skef fotos

Volta Regional CNC Theatre Remains a Dream after 20 Years

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Volta Online

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September 6, 2018

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BY: Ewoenam Kpodo|Voltaonlinegh.com|

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Volta Regional Centre for National Culture (CNC), Mr. Jude Kubiti has bemoaned the lack of government’s commitment towards the completion of the regional theatre, which has been under construction for about 20 years now.

Mr. Kubiti said the delay in completing the multipurpose edifice, was denying the creative arts industry, a befitting theatre to ply their trade and also promote the unique cultural heritage of the region.

“For more than 20 years, it is still not completed. The roofing is now going off and the stage is not anything to write home about; the security in terms of gate in an appalling story,” Mr. Kubiti told Voltaonlinegh.com in an interview.

According to him, the theatre was very crucial to the unearthing of talents creative arts industry, just as a stadium is to footballers; stressing that, budding musicians, actors, fashion designers, among others need the theatre as a platform to exhibit their talents to the world.

Mr. Kubiti was speaking with voltaonlinegh.com on the sidelines of the opening of a 3-day Regional Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC) on Wednesday, September 5 at the forecourt of CNC Regional Theatre in Ho.

The interior of yet-to-be completed theatre

The first day of the 3-day programme (from 5th-7th September) themed: “Empowering the Youth through Culture, Tourism and Creative Arts for Employment and Wealth Creation” saw exhibitions from various municipalities and districts on display as well as wonderful performances from various cultural troupes showing the rich culture of the region.

The PRO said the dream was to have a Cultural Village “just like we have in Kumasi, Cultural Centre or we have in Greater Accra, Arts Centre which is in under renovation to become something else” with facilities such as accommodation, swimming, etc serving as a complete place for relaxation.”

A former Regional Director of CNC and chairman of the occasion, Dr Prosper Yaw Dzamefe who literally fought for the 92.30 acre parcel of land for the CNC, appealed to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Creative Arts and the Volta Regional Coordinating Council to “vigorously pursue the manifestation of this Cultural Village Project.”

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

Police grabbed Criminals terrorising Students and other residents in Ho

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Volta Online

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September 5, 2018

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BY: ADMIN| Voltaonlinegh.com|Ho

An intelligence based police operation in the Volta regional capital of Ho, has led to the arrest of a gang of suspected criminals who have been terrorising innocent residents in parts of the municipality.

The dawn swoop carried out by a team of personnel from the Municipal Police Command on Thursday, August 30, 2018 resulted in the smoking out of some ten suspected criminals from their hideouts in town, including Dave and poly areas, where some of them have been robbing students of their valuables.

The suspects aged between 18 and 20 years, have been on the police wanted list for their involvement in various crimes in the town, DCOP George Tuffuor, the Regional Police commander who confirmed the operation told Voltaonlinegh.com.

They are; Isaac Okai alias Top Shatta, Ebenezer Adjei, Kpeyibor Stanley, Bismark Dogbe, Selorm Gizah Asem, David Dasilvera, Osman Anthony, Delali Gagba, Ankrah Sedinam and Agbesi Kwao.

The commander noted that, all the suspects during interrogation admitted to various crimes under investigation with Isaac Okai confirming his shooting of a man on the legs at Dave area in June this year when the victim blew his cover.

Similarly, suspect Agbesi Okai who wears dreadlocks also admitted to robbing students around the Ho Technical University as he surrendered two mobile phones of his victims that he robbed on 27th and 28th of August near a black gated hostel, DCOP Tuffuor revealed.

According to information gathered by Voltaonlinegh.com, several students around the poly area (Wortoe) have fallen victim to the criminal activities of Agbesi and his gang, who in the evenings (usually after 9pm) laid ambush with machetes along the road from the southern gate of the Technical University towards the private hostels.

Not even the presence of streetlights along the stretch deterred these miscreants, who hid in the bushes and attack innocent students, mostly young ladies of their mobile phones, laptops and other valuables. Any attempt of resistance by the victims resulted in the inflicting machete wounds on them by the robbers.

The arrest of these criminals would therefore come as a huge relieve to the students who have been terrified by the rampant nature of the attacks in recent times.

Meanwhile, all ten suspects are due for court today [Wednesday] while, an identification parade is scheduled at the Police headquarters at 11:00am for the public identify them.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com

MCPs Undergo 3-Month Standardization Training

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Volta Online

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September 4, 2018

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MCP training (3) — The Master Craft Persons at the training

BY: Kris Delali Asare|Voltaonlinegh.com|

Over 80 Master Craft Persons (MCPs) will from second week in September undergo a 3-month standardization training at Father Dogli Memorial Technical Institute at New Ayoma in the Jasikan District of the Volta Region.

The training under the Ghana Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme is the first of its kind and sponsored by the Ghana Skills Development Initiative (GSDI) with funding jointly from German Government (10 million Euros) and Government of Ghana (1 million Euros).

The programme is aimed at equipping MCPs with improved skills and current trend of sewing in the international world.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Divine Kpobee, Volta Regional Coordinator of GSDI encouraged beneficiaries to be punctual and self-motivated in order to remain focused, saying the objective of the program is to build the traditional skills in Ghana to save them from collapse.

Mr. Kpobee revealed that in addition to dress making, the funding will cater for other skills areas including cosmetology and electronics.

Principal of Father Dogli Memorial Technical Institute, Mrs. Bridget Afi Dzaka asked for discipline in all aspects and advised the trainees to move further to attain higher education as “you will never regret technical education.”

She debunked fears that the programme will affect normal teaching and learning in the Institute.

“We did the pilot section in 2015 and it was successful. Moreover, we have identified any challenge that is likely to be associated with the exercise.”

The trainees mainly from Hohoe, Likpe, Ayoma and its environs will go through basic training in English Language, Mathematics, Garments, Entrepreneurship, Science and ICT within 3-4 months. They will report twice in a week according to their group schedule to attain the National Proficiency 1 Certificate at the end of the training.

An amount of Gh₵200.00 was paid by each trainee as part of the registration exercise with most of them geared up for the lessons hoping to improve on their activities after the training.

Source:www.voltaonlinegh.com