The Government will upgrade the Bawku Technical Institute (BAWTECH) into a model institute in conformity with the new Educational Reform. The Institute is among the first batch of 20 technical institutions selected to provide first class technical and vocational education in the country. Alhaji Ahmed Awudu Yirimeah, the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, announced these at the launch of the 40th Anniversary celebrations of the Institute at Bawku at the Weekend. He said the upgrading was necessary under the Reform that required technical and vocational education to provide orientation for graduates to enable them to become self-employed to reduce unemployment. Alhaji Yirimeah said the Government was committed to incorporating education into national aspirations to develop disciplined, socially conscious and well-educated graduates to enable them to compete with their counterparts worldwide. He urged polytechnics and technical institutes to provide the link between them and the communities to enable them to tackle technical and practical challenges facing the people. Alhaji Yirimeah said, "the extend to which our educational institutions have more or less ascribed to this national vision should be the standard measure for success stories and also set the tone for development." He said the Government was aware that the country's accelerated socio-economic development depended on the training of technicians, and would ensure that polytechnic and technical education was improved. Alhaji Yirimeah said this led to the enactment of the Council for Technical and Vocational Training Act and the Polytechnic Act. He explained that the enactments were to ensure that polytechnic and technical institutions had the desired autonomy to enable them to become centres of knowledge for industrial development. Alhaji Yirimeah urged the students to consider the celebrations as an opportunity for them to focus on the best practices so that they could achieve excellence in their chosen fields. Madam Elizabeth Ayire Mwinkaar, the Regional Director of Education, appealed to authorities of technical institutions to come out with concrete ideas and suggestions that would help government and the Ghana Education Service Council to improve technical and vocational education. She noted that in spite of the challenges confronting technical and vocational education, the institutions were able to contribute to the training of artisans and to national development. Madam Mwinkaar said some of the challenges were, the lack of a national framework to guide the implementation of technical and vocational education and training, the lack of training, inadequate supply of teaching and learning equipment, the lack of theoretical curriculum and weak linkages between technical institutes and industry. Mr. Abdul-Rahman Gumah, the Bawku Municipal Assembly Chief Executive, observed that encroachment on lands for educational institutions were hampering their expansion and development. He appealed to those involved in the practice to stay away from such lands to allow government to develop the schools. "An avenue to support educational institutions is to provide lands for expansion and not to litigate with the authorities over land," Mr. Abdul-Rahman Gumah said. Mr. Alhassan Umar, Principal of BAWTECH, said it was the first technical institution to be established in 1967, by the Roman Catholic Mission, in the then Upper Region as a private institution to train boys in motor vehicle mechanics. He said it was absorbed into the public educational system in 1973 and it currently run eight programmes for 730 students made up of 622 boys and 108 girls. Mr. Umar said BAWTECH had not witnessed students' riots or demonstration and commended the Board of Governors, Municipal Education Directorate and the Security Council for endeavouring to solve problems confronting the institute. He however, appealed to the directorate, assembly and other organizations for assistance to rehabilitate the boys' dormitory. Source: GNA