Minister of Health, Major (rtd) Courage Quashigah has advocated a comprehensive pre-tertiary education that will help transform and promote the overall physical and intellectual development of the Ghanaian child. He said prior to any specialized education or training for the youth, pre-tertiary education should focus on cultural awareness, health awareness, discipline, patriotism, resourcefulness, civic responsibility and leadership skills for the beneficiaries. Maj. Quashigah was speaking at a lecture, on the theme "Ghana @ 50; our history and destiny," organized by the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) in Kumasi on Thursday, as part of activities marking Ghana's Golden jubilee. He said "With these foundations for the youth, every other higher education and training becomes easier and the final outcome will be the attainment of high calibre human resource that will respond to national development agenda." Maj. Quashigah noted that Ghana and her Asian counterparts such as Malaysia and Singapore, had political independence around the same period, but those countries, had now become economic giants as a result of the massive development of their human resource. He said the Ministry in response to President Kufuor's vision to develop the human resource base of the nation, had formulated a new health policy, under the slogan "creating wealth through health", which aimed at making health accessible to the people. This, according Maj. Quashigah could save a lot of money that households and nation were spending on treating avoidable diseases. He called on the youth to discard all misconceptions about the country and dedicate themselves to national development. Mr Kwaku Baako Junior, Managing Editor of the "Crusading Guide" Newspaper, observed that if there had not been any political disruptions, the country would had been better off than it was today. He said the celebration of 50 years of nationhood was justifiable and that people should not downplay the contributions that individuals made during the struggle for Ghana's independence. Mr Baako said no one should use the celebration to score cheap political points and called on Ghanaians to be committed to the country's democratic process. Mr William Yamoah, the NUGS President, noted that Ghanaian students contributed significantly towards the attainment of independence. He said the country expected much from students and advised them to be open-minded, hard working, and loyal to the State.Source GNA