By Michael Kofi Kenetey
The Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North Constituency, Gifty Twum Ampofo has urged students to take interest in volunteerism and internships during vacation immediately after school. This, she said will equip them with the requisite skills and the technical know-how to take-up vacant positions when the opportunity opens. Mrs. Twum Ampofo was advising students during the maiden graduation ceremony organized for the final year students of the St. Paul’s Technical Institute at Kukurantumi in the Abuakwa North Municipality of the Eastern Region.
During the maiden graduation ceremony to formally usher the final year students into the world and say goodbye to them as they take a terminal point of their life, Mrs. Twum Ampofo advised the graduands to desist from negative vices that will tarnish the prestigious image of SPATS. She further advised them to use their cell phones and social media positively and not to use it as a conduit to insult people and other negative activities.
In an interview with GBC NEWS, the Principal of SPATS, Benjamin Adjabeng noted that due to the performance of students who graduate from the school, the Akosombo Textile Limited, ATL, has offered internship opportunities for graduates and students of the Institute. Mr. Adjabeng reiterated that in this 21st century the perception that academically dull students are those who pursue technical education is fading out and further urged parents to prioritize technical education for their wards.
The Assistant Director of Administration at the Abuakwa North Municipal Assembly, Kwabena Osei Kuffour advised the students not to be discouraged and feel hopeless if their final year results did not qualify them to the tertiary level, but rather, they should use the opportunity to participate in apprenticeship to acquire skills in artisanship to make a living.
The maiden graduation saw the graduating of over 581 students graduating from the various programmes offered at SPATS. St. Paul’s Technical Institute, SPATS, at Kukurantumi was established in February 1957 by the Society of the Divine Word Missionaries of the Catholic Church in Ghana. It is the first technical school established by the Catholic Church in Ghana to equip the youth with employable technical skills. The Institute with over two thousand students currently offers Automobile Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Hardware, Building Construction, Wood Construction, Welding and Fabrication, Solar Photovoltaic System Technology, among others.