Chase Petroleum supports Garrison School

Published in the Daily Graphic on 18/12/2009, pg 24

Story: Matilda Attram
CHASE Petroleum Ghana Limited has unveiled and handed over a refurbished Information Communication Technology (ICT) centre to the Garrison Primary and Junior High Schools in Accra.
The refurbishment, which was done at the cost of $50,000, comes with a control room and instructor’s office, 28 pieces of flat screen computers, computer tables with chairs, a glass showcase with computer accessories and an Internet facility.
The company’s gesture is to facilitate teaching and learning of ICT in the school.
In a speech read on his behalf at the inauguration of the centre, the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, stated that the use of ICT could improve on the quality of data available to students through the Internet and also allowed repetitive tasks to be carried out quickly and accurately.
The minister further indicated that the introduction of the national ICT policy — the ICT Accelerated Development— sought to transform the educational system to provide the requisite educational, and training services in an environment capable of producing the right skills and human resources required for the development of the nation and her knowledge-based economy.
“Our ICT Education Policy is to enable graduates from Ghanaian educational institutions — formal and informal — to confidently and creatively use ICT tools and resources to develop requisite skills and knowledge needed by Ghanaians to be active participants in the global knowledge economy by 2015,” he stated.
He added that the Ministry of Education was making efforts to use ICT to facilitate teaching and learning within the education system through the promotion of e-education project.
The minister expressed the hope that the facility would be used for the purpose for which it was provided.
In his welcoming address, the Director of Education of the Ghana Armed Forces, Colonel Osei Kojo, noted that the Ghana Armed Forces educational institutions were noted for their good performance in the educational sector of the country.
He said the garrison schools, which have trained most of the great personalities in the country, aimed at training the youth to become responsible citizens, who could contribute immensely to the country’s development.
He also advised parents to invest in the education of their children, adding that “It is better we invest in the education of our children to develop their full potentials for the future”.
The Chief Executive Officer of Chase Petroleum Ghana Limited, Mr Kwaku Bediako, indicated that the facility, which was refurbished within two weeks, was the company’s “widow’s mite” towards the development of society.
“ICT is a driver to economic development in current technological age and a solid foundation of it is crucial in the development of our children”, he said.
Mr Bediako, who is also an old student of the school, stated that it had been the company’s policy to share its worth with the society.
The Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Major General Peter Augustine, commended the company for its gesture and challenged other organisations to invest in the education of the youth to reduce the rate of unemployment in the country.
“Helping to educate the today’s youth reduces the risk of unemployment and the attendant social vices that we all complain about. Ghana needs patriotism as has been amply demonstrated by Chase Petroleum Ghana Limited to move the nation forward,” he said.