A Member of Council of State Mr. Ato Essuman has called for transformation of the Ghana Education Service Development Institute (GESDI) at Ajumako to make it focus on management development and provision of technical skills. The former school of Ghanaian Languages was converted into a capacity development institute for the staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES) when it was absorbed by the University of Education Winneba. Mr. Essuman, who is also Chief Director of the Ministry of Education Science and Sports, noted that the transformation had become necessary as leadership and managerial skills were in great deficit in the education enterprise. He made the call at the first Central Region Education Review Meeting at Cape Coast. District Directors of Education, District Chief Executives, District Coordinators, Presiding Members and District Education Oversight Committees, and other stake holders in education participated in a three-day meeting to review education delivery in the region. Mr Essuman noted that administrators in the GES often based promotions on certificates or degrees which had little to do with quality of instruction in the classroom. "Teachers are promoted from one level to another without requisite training and exposure to activities they will be confronted with for which leadership and managerial acumen are required.” He said: “The result is that they don't perform because they don't have the requisite background for managing and leading but unfortunately everybody blame them instead of sympathizing with them.” He said government, parents and guardians had entrusted into our hands the total harnessing and development of the human capital of this country and we cannot afford to fail them. "We need to create an education service that is performance oriented and that required a combination of incentives and focused capacity building measures to complement the strengthening of technical and managerial skills," he stated. Nana Ato Arthur, Regional Minister expressed concern about falling standard of education in the region and urged the participation to come out with measures to turn the tide. Source: GNA