The Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah has called on authorities of the education sector to devise a system that will enable every Ghanaian irrespective of the person's physical condition, to have access to second cycle education. He said the region had no second cycle institution that admits visually impaired students because the authorities had failed to include the education of the physically challenged into the regular system. Dr Agyemang-Mensah, who was speaking at the Ashanti Regional Education Sector Review workshop in Kumasi said, “Many of such people have become beggars on the streets because the system has rejected them through no fault of theirs. “The situation is also denying the country the opportunity to tap into talents of this segment of the population,” he added. He referred to the 1992 Constitution, which considered education as a right to every Ghanaian and said justice must be done to the provision. Dr Agyemang-Mensah indicated that government was working hard to enhance education adding that in the region alone, 317 school projects had been undertaken in the two years of the Mills government. “Beyond these, government continues to explore ways and means of ensuring that teachers who shoulder the burden of training of the manpower of the nation are adequately remunerated and supported,” the minister stressed. He pledged the support of the Regional Coordinating Council to ensure the smooth administration of education institutions in the region. The Director, Technical and Vocational Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr. Asamoah Duodu, announced that the national sector education review workshop would take place in the last week of this month. He said it was the goal of the GES to raise the proportion of girl’s enrolment at all levels of pre-tertiary education, particularly at the second cycle level. The Ankaasehene, Nana Adomako-Ansa, who represented the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II as Guest of Honour, said Otumfuo placed high premium on education not only in the Ashanti Region, but also other parts of the country because he believed education held the key to national development. He said it was also clear that the government alone could not shoulder the entire education budget and thus outside support was necessary. Nana Adomako-Ansa said the Promotion of Partnerships with Traditional Authorities Project (PPTAP), which the Asantehene, in collaboration with the World Bank introduced in support of interventions in four areas including education, had built over 40 school facilities in the rural areas since 2004. He appealed to the regional education directorate to evaluate the PPTAP education projects in the region and come out with a report to the Otumfuo since he intended to pursue the next phase of the project. The Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Mr. J.K. Onyinah, called on teachers to rededicate themselves to the profession to enable them train the youth to become effective leaders in future. Source: Daily Graphic