<<Print>>

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has said his administration would help address the wide disparity between the rich and the poor in accessing tertiary education in the country. He said his government would embark on massive expansion of educational infrastructure at the basic school through to the tertiary level across a 10-year period as well as establish a school to serve each community across the country. Nana Akufo-Addo was responding to a question by a participant at an interaction with some members of professional bodies in Sunyani as part of his campaign tour in the Brong�Ahafo Region. The tour is dubbed "RESTORING HOPE". The NPP flagbearer�s team is also scheduled to hold meetings with the electorate in parts of the region. The tour to the Region, which started on July 3, has taken the NPP Presidential candidate to Mehame, Dadiesoaba, Nkaseim, Fienkyemu and Hwidiem. It is expected to end on July 8, 2012. The meeting with members of the professional bodies was aimed at tapping their inputs and sharing ideas on how to move the nation forward. Nana Akufo-Addo reiterated the need to find lasting solution to the �age old tradition and practice� of polytechnic teachers embarking on strikes to back their demands for better conditions of service. �It is important to ensure a systemic overhaul of the whole structure, an important challenge that requires the NPP replacing the NDC in government to effect the right and necessary changes on the way things are done�, he said. Nana Akufo-Addo indicated there was a critical need to address the longstanding impasse between teachers, especially those in polytechnics and the government as their roles and contributions were very significant and paramount to the industrial transformation of Ghana�s economy. He said upon assumption of power, the NPP government would transform the polytechnics into colleges of technology and put special emphasis and premium on such institutions by bringing new changes and improvement in areas such as budget control and syllabus. The NPP flagbearer called for a discussion to enable the people to build consensus and find new perspectives to help address pertinent issues and concerns bordering on polytechnic education in the country.