The 65th Annual New Year School and Conference has entered day four with participants lauding it as marvellous, successful, impressive and very interactive but say patronage is not encouraging.

They have, however, expressed satisfaction with the 2014 theme: “Information and Communication Technology-driven Education for Sustainable Human Development: Challenge and Prospects,” saying: “it is relevant to current needs.”

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday, 80-year-old Theophilus Kojo Hagan, who has participated 45 times attributed the low turnout to the on-going quadrennial delegates’ conference of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).

He  observed that GNAT is a major stakeholder of the Annual New Year School, next to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, who usually sponsor members each year to take part in the event, unfortunately its conference had coincided with this year's conference.

Mr Hagan also mentioned increase in the fees from 250 Ghana cedis to 350 as a causal factor, noting that, some individuals sponsored themselves and could not perhaps this time round afforded it.

He expressed happiness that a key policy issue bordering the education sector was passionately discussed and appealed to government to consider seriously the communiqué due to be delivered at the end of the school and incorporate it into major national development policies.

Mrs Comfort Adjei who has taken part in the school nine times, agreed that the low attendance stemmed from the GNAT conference.

She explained that GNAT usually sponsored two persons in each district, however, it appeared this year no one was given such opportunity due to their conference.

For him, Dr Stanislaus Kadingdi, Municipal Chief Executive of Kasena Nankana Municipal Assembly, the programme was well organised but added that most elderly persons entertain fear in Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications.

He said ICT experts needed to focus on developing local content programmes capturing local traditions to allay fears gripping the elderly on ICT usage.

About 200 are taking part in the 65th New Year School and Conference in University of Ghana, organised by the Institute of Continuing and Distance Education.

The Institute intends to focus on ICT and national development for the next five years to drive to transform key sectors of the national economy.

University authority said the move was to ensure Ghana’s vision of the ICT for Accelerated Development policy was achieved