Mrs. Ernestina Naadu Mills, the First Lady, has said it was important to focus more on the promotion of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and that this was critical to job and wealth creation. She appealed to all Ghanaians to strive to become computer literate and said people lacking ICT skills risked being marginalized as the economy and society became increasingly dependent on electronic communication systems. Mrs. Mills was speaking at the launch of the Asante-Akim Technology Institute at Patriensa near Konongo. Founded by Dr Osei Darkwah, President of the Ghana Telecom University College, the Institute seeks to pioneer the concept of "Virtual High School", a new educational innovation that makes it possible for high school students to have access to global educational resources through ICT. The First Lady lauded the initiative which integrates classroom learning with expectations on the job market. She said the vision of the Institute represented hope for millions of rural people in Ghana looking for options to further their education and expressed the confidence that programmes it offered would be responsive to the educational needs of the country. "The Virtual High School will significantly provide access and expand educational opportunities to the thousands of our youth looking for opportunities to further their education", Mrs Mills said. Mr. Kofi Opoku Manu, the Ashanti Regional Minister, said the introduction of the "virtual education" was a novelty, worthy of support by all well-meaning Ghanaians. He appealed to industrialists to partner the institute to design programmes to meet the human resource requirement of industry. Dr Osei Darkwah said the new technology-driven institute was being positioned as an educational facility for all senior high schools in the municipality. It would offer professional development courses in both the traditional and virtual education, he said. Source: GNA