President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appealed to Africa's international development partners to re-channel their funding support towards the provision of educational infrastructure in order to improve access to quality of teaching on the continent.
He said the huge educational infrastructure deficit made it imperative that more funding, both locally and internationally, was channelled towards that area, stressing that, "We cannot provide our youth with 21st century skills in 19th century classrooms and expect them to make a difference in this globally competitive world." The President made the appeal in a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, at the opening of the maiden edition of the Africa Skills Week (ASW) in Accra yesterday.
The ASW, being organised under the auspices of the African Union Commission for Education in collaboration with the government of Ghana, was on the theme: "Skills and jobs for the 21st century; quality skills development for sustainable employment in Africa," is scheduled for October 14 to 18.
In attendance are more than 600 participants from across the continent, including experts in technical and vocational training, academics and industry players.