Polytechnics in the country have been asked to adopt appropriate technology in their training programmes to ensure graduates can live up to the task of transforming the country. The Minister of Education, Betty Mould-Iddrisu made the call at the 11th Congregation of the Takoradi Polytechnic. In all, 2,693 students were presented with Higher National Diplomas and for the first time in the history of the Polytechnic, sixteen (16) graduates were awarded an International Professional Certificate in Logistics and Transport. The Polytechnic also launched the Takoradi Polytechnic Journal of Technology, a 65-page academic journal to provide an opportunity for lecturers to disseminate their applied research findings and innovations to the academic and industrial community. In a speech read on her behalf, the Education Minister underscored the importance of polytechnic education particularly with the oil exploration and production in the country and assured that government would continue to provide the necessary logistics to empower the polytechnics to be responsive to the challenges. “I want to assure you that the Government remains resolute to the development of polytechnic education. We shall continue to collaborate with other funding agencies to gradually complete all on-going educational projects in good time to make polytechnic education the wheel of the country’s development as far as science and technology is concerned,” she added. Betty Mould Iddrisu said government was bent on finding lasting solutions to the impasse with POTAG to pave way for the polytechnics to carry out their mandate of training professionals for the appropriate institutions of technology and development. She thanked the polytechnic staff for their patience and assured them of efforts by government to migrate them on to the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) before the end of the year. Betty Mould Iddrisu also appealed to the graduates to utilize the knowledge, skills and good attitudes gained from the three-year training for the betterment of mother Ghana. “You must be creative and innovative with a keen interest in setting up your own businesses to create employment opportunities for others. Remember, poverty is not in the pocket but in the mind. You are different because you understand the principle of ‘nsa na adwen ma mpuntu’, the motto of the polytechnic which translates the hands and mind together bring development. On his part, Chairman of Takoradi Polytechnic Council, Dr. George K.T. Oduro said the polytechnic would continue to maintain high academic standards and urged the staff and students to move along with the pace it had set. Dr. Oduro made a passionate appeal to the Minister of Finance to expedite action on the migration of senior members of the Polytechnic to the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) which he described as critical because the delay in enrolling lecturers onto the scheme has created anxiety and adversely affecting staff performance. The Counicl Chairman was convinced that the polytechnic has over the last three years prepared the graduates adequately to face challenges in the world of work and urged them to excel in their fields of endevours.