MOULDING CHARACTER OF OUR YOUTH (MARCH 8, 2010)

THE future of any society rests on the quality of the skills and character of its youth.
Just as today’s adults are encouraged to carry out development activities for posterity to be guaranteed its security, parents and the authorities are also reminded of the need to train the youth in such a way that when they mature they will not depart from it.
Even before independence and immediately thereafter, the authorities invested heavily in education in order to churn out the right calibre of skilful personnel to lead in the rebuilding of the new state.
We recall the massive investments in education during the First Republic that led to the setting up of the Ghana Education Trust schools in almost all parts of the country to facilitate Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s accelerated educational development plan.
These investments were not limited to infrastructural development; it was during the same period that the government introduced free and compulsory education in basic schools throughout the country, as well as fee-free education for children from northern Ghana.
It is significant that the government decided to actively involve students in the 53rd Independence anniversary parade throughout the country to ensure that the youth appreciate the struggle and toil that has brought this country this far and also inculcate in the youth the sense of nationalism.
Equally important is the pledge by President J.E.A. Mills to invest in the youth in order to build the critical mass that will sustain the development agenda.
It is our hope that this endeavour will yield the desired results because the country needs to train its youth properly now so that they can become useful citizens in future.
It is easier to form the character of the youth in our educational institutions, instead of waiting for them to mature into adults before we start encouraging them to be of good behaviour.
Building this critical mass of productive youth to take up the mantle of leadership is not going to be easy, but with determination and support from all the stakeholders — the government, teachers, parents and the community — a lot can be achieved.
We think that the provision of quality education for the youth should not be the task of the government alone because there are many more ends competing for the nation’s scare resources.
The business community that relies on the manpower churned out by the training institutions also needs to plough back part of its profits into education to complement the government’s efforts at improving standards at all levels of education.
The Daily Graphic urges the government to continue to cater for the needs of teachers, who are central to our quest to equip the youth with the capacity to take control of their destinies and that of the country in future.
We acknowledge the challenges involved in the task of forming the character of our future leaders. However, with the resolve of all the stakeholders and the readiness of the youth to take their education more seriously, the country can achieve its goals.
Besides inadequate facilities in the educational institutions, there is also the problem of rising indiscipline among the youth. The Daily Graphic appeals to the educational authorities to inculcate the virtues of hard work and discipline in our youth and not limit character formation to only academic work.
The adults in our society can set the tone for a more disciplined society by leading by example and desisting from the situation where vices have become virtues, while indiscipline is endorsed by majority of our people as a way of life.