The Keta Secondary Technical School (KETASCO) celebrated its 70th anniversary on Saturday, with Torgbui Sri III as the Royal Guest of Honor and Torgbui Tamakloe VI as chairman.

The ceremony was attended by Dzolalians from home and abroad.

Dean of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Business School, Prof. John Gatsi was the Keynote Speaker.

Prof Gatsi is a Dzolalian- enrolled into KETASCO in 1988 and completed his 'O' and 'A' levels in 1993 and 1995 respectively.

He spoke on the topic "Quality Second-Cycle Education in Ghana: The Role of Stakeholders."

The Dean of UCC Business School stated that recent developments in second-cycle education, whereby some students spent only 37 days in school and are asked to vacate for 56 days in order for first-year students to come in, are having negative impact on contact hours and compromising quality of education.

According to him, educational authorities should not trivialise the critical issue of contact hours.

He explained that the "truncated contact hours are the reason why parents have to pay for so many arranged classes for their children to be able to complete the syllabi." This, he added, creates inequity for many students.

He believes that, while focusing on second-cycle education has political and electoral implications, effective stakeholder engagement should result in better and longer-lasting quality outcomes.

He called for stakeholder engagement and debate about allowing students in second-cycle institutions to use phones and tablets.

He stated that Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia's promise to give each Senior High Student a tablet should spark debate about whether the policy of not allowing phones and tablets in schools should be changed.

He went on to say that junior high school students, who are mostly day students, are given assignments that primarily require the use of phones and tablets to complete homework. So there must undoubtedly be a discussion in order to ensure that our students learn creatively.

Prof. Gatsi explained that accountability is needed in the operationss of Parent Teacher Association (PTAs).

He said there are reported cases of misuse of PTA dues and called for proper structures to be put in place to assure contributors. Prof Gatsi suggested that those who misapplied PTA dues should be punished because it negatively affects construction of infrastructure projects in the schools.

He inspired teachers to be role models and motivational forces for students. Prof. Gatsi further asked educationists to look at quality holistically saying that "if a school has three programmes and one is churning out good grades and others are not, then quality in his view is not holistic."

Prof. Gatsi encouraged past students to use the 70th anniversary to reflect on the years and rededicate themselves to defining what KETASCO should be in terms of infrastructure, capacity to enroll more students, and making the school appealing to all.