Nana Fosuaba Akwasi Mensah Banahene, Administrator of the GETFund, has stressed the need for parents and guardians to encourage their children, especially the girl-child to acquire quality education to enable them to play meaningful roles in the socio-economic development of the country. He said gone were the days when girls were relegated to the background as house-helps and maid servants and that it was time to give due attention to help them harness their potentials to their benefits and the country as a whole. Nana Fosuaba Banahene was speaking as the guest speaker of the first speech and prize-giving day of Afua Kobi Ampem Girls’ Senior High School at Trabuom in the Atwima-Kwanwoma District of Ashanti on Saturday. The theme for the day was; “Holistic Girl-Child Education and National Development - Achievements and Challenges and the Way Forward”. He said the good performance of every girl-child depended to a large extent on teaches and therefore asked them to work assiduously in giving quality education and moral training to girls to enable them to achieve greater heights in future. Nana Fosuaba-Banahene urged parents and guardians also to inculcate in their children good moral values to enable them to become God-fearing and live decent lives. He appealed to the students to discard the notion that science and mathematics are difficult subjects to study and advised them to develop interest in all subjects. Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, said the government was committed to improving education since education is the best tool for national accelerated development. He noted that, some of the measures put in place by the government include the introduction of capitation grant and school feeding programme, provision of classroom blocks and other facilities to enhance effective teaching and learning in schools. Mr Mpiani appealed to parents and guardians to provide their wards, especially the girl-child their basic needs to complement the efforts of the government to promote education in the country. Professor Dominic Fobih, Minister of Education, Science and Sports, said since 2007, the government had put in many interventions, including the supply of Nissan patrol vehicles to all the 38 training colleges, 10 to Regional Directors of Education, 100 Hilux pick-ups also to District Directors, 8,280 bicycles and 1,356 motor bikes to schools. He advised students to cultivate positive attitudes and eschew negative practices inimical to the progress of academic work and live decent and disciplined lives. Mrs. Victoria Annan, the Headmistress, in her report said the school, established in 1975 with enrolment of less than 100 students now has a population of 1,200. She said the performance of the students had been encouraging and that the school placed 14th out of over 475 Senior High Schools in the country in the West African Senior Secondary Schools Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2005. The headmistress said the school lacked facilities including an Administration Block, a bus, accommodation for masters and appealed to the government to come to their aid. Source: GNA