Mr. Lee Ocran
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18th May, 2012
Education Minister Briefs Parliament On Projects
Salaries of the untrained teachers who acquired Diploma in Basic Education (UTDB) during 2009/2010 academic year would be upgraded as soon as their results slip have been verified confirmed by the awarding institutions, the Minister of Education, Lee Ocran told Parliament yesterday.
He said since the graduate teachers have not yet been issued certificates from the awarding institutions, the Ghana Education Service had to rely on certified results slip of which a lot of painstaking references had been made.
Mr. Ocran explained that the result slips had to conform with a master list and in some instances with the list of awarding institutions before their salaries would be upgraded, “and these cause a lot of delays in the process”.
The Minister was responding to an urgent question posed by Ms Grace Addo (NPP- Amansie West), who sought to find out when the salaries of the UTDB teachers who passed out in the 2009/2010 academic year would be upgraded.
Responding to another question on the Science Park Complex and Lecture Hall Phase 3 projects at the Sunyani Polytechnic, by Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh (NPP, Sunyani East), he said an allocation of GH1.1 million had been made in the 2012 GETFUND financing programme for the project.
Mr. Ocran said the phase 3 of the lecture hall project was awarded in July 2011 at a contract sum of GH2,886,049.05, adding that, an amount of 1,023,318.41 had been spent so far on the project.
He said the budgetary allocation for the project was raised from GH¢300,000 in 2008 to GH¢1 million in 2009, “however, due to serious budgetary constraints the allocation fell to GH 270,000 in 2010. But this has been increased again to GH400,940 in both 2011 and 2012”.
“Madam Speaker, all these efforts have been made to ensure the early completion of the above projects despite the financial constraints of the Ministry,” he said.
Touching on the intake of the first batch of students in the University of Health and Allied Sciences in the Volta Region, in response to a question posed by Edem Asima (NDC, South Dayi), Mr. Ocran said arrangements had been finalised for the university to take off in September with admission of about 200 students into various schools and programmes.
He said the university would start operations from the offices of the Ho Regional Hospital with key staff, lecture rooms, a library and a hostel almost completed and also at the School of Nursing and Hygiene Hohoe where lecture rooms, laboratories, and housing facilities were near completion.
The Minister, therefore gave the assurance that the remaining facilities would be completed on time for use by September.
“The university campus in Hohoe will start with space provided by the Oncocerchaisis Unit and the Midwifery School of the Ministry of Health at Hohoe,” he said and noted that work had already began at the permanent site for the University at Sokode Lokoe with the development of a draft master plan for the campus, clearing of the access road to the site, and soil testing by the Chinese contractors.
Parliament also expressed the need for people to have regular medical checkups to ensure that they live healthy and longer enough to contribute to national development.
This was prompted by a tribute made by Madam Frema Osei-Opare (NPP, Ayawaso West Wogon) to the Late Cynthia Boakye, the parliamentary correspondent of the New Statesman newspaper who passed away two months ago at the age of 29.
He said since the graduate teachers have not yet been issued certificates from the awarding institutions, the Ghana Education Service had to rely on certified results slip of which a lot of painstaking references had been made.
Mr. Ocran explained that the result slips had to conform with a master list and in some instances with the list of awarding institutions before their salaries would be upgraded, “and these cause a lot of delays in the process”.
The Minister was responding to an urgent question posed by Ms Grace Addo (NPP- Amansie West), who sought to find out when the salaries of the UTDB teachers who passed out in the 2009/2010 academic year would be upgraded.
Responding to another question on the Science Park Complex and Lecture Hall Phase 3 projects at the Sunyani Polytechnic, by Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh (NPP, Sunyani East), he said an allocation of GH1.1 million had been made in the 2012 GETFUND financing programme for the project.
Mr. Ocran said the phase 3 of the lecture hall project was awarded in July 2011 at a contract sum of GH2,886,049.05, adding that, an amount of 1,023,318.41 had been spent so far on the project.
He said the budgetary allocation for the project was raised from GH¢300,000 in 2008 to GH¢1 million in 2009, “however, due to serious budgetary constraints the allocation fell to GH 270,000 in 2010. But this has been increased again to GH400,940 in both 2011 and 2012”.
“Madam Speaker, all these efforts have been made to ensure the early completion of the above projects despite the financial constraints of the Ministry,” he said.
Touching on the intake of the first batch of students in the University of Health and Allied Sciences in the Volta Region, in response to a question posed by Edem Asima (NDC, South Dayi), Mr. Ocran said arrangements had been finalised for the university to take off in September with admission of about 200 students into various schools and programmes.
He said the university would start operations from the offices of the Ho Regional Hospital with key staff, lecture rooms, a library and a hostel almost completed and also at the School of Nursing and Hygiene Hohoe where lecture rooms, laboratories, and housing facilities were near completion.
The Minister, therefore gave the assurance that the remaining facilities would be completed on time for use by September.
“The university campus in Hohoe will start with space provided by the Oncocerchaisis Unit and the Midwifery School of the Ministry of Health at Hohoe,” he said and noted that work had already began at the permanent site for the University at Sokode Lokoe with the development of a draft master plan for the campus, clearing of the access road to the site, and soil testing by the Chinese contractors.
Parliament also expressed the need for people to have regular medical checkups to ensure that they live healthy and longer enough to contribute to national development.
This was prompted by a tribute made by Madam Frema Osei-Opare (NPP, Ayawaso West Wogon) to the Late Cynthia Boakye, the parliamentary correspondent of the New Statesman newspaper who passed away two months ago at the age of 29.
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