The government is soon to introduce an Open University in the tertiary educational sector.

The Open University is a form of non-formal education and will complement the existing Non-Formal Education Division under the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MoESS).

The introduction of the Open University is in line with the restructuring of the Non-Formal Education Division and reformation of the Functional Literacy Programme for more, participants to undertake formal education.

The Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Professor Dominic Fobih, made this known on Monday at Dodowa on the occasion of the 2008 International Literacy Day.

He said the package under the Open University Programme would enable participants to obtain the practical know-how and a theoretical basis for higher educational heights.

"It is a total package not just to help the participants to read and write but to take them to greater heights," he stated, and noted that the participants would not need any qualification to enrol in the Open University.

He said the theme for the celebration, "Functional Literacy - A Partner in the Crusade for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), Malaria and Other Epidemics in Ghana", signified the close linkage of functional literacy and education in general to the prevention of these diseases in the country.

"The theme signifies the fact that functional literacy is a key partner in the prevention of these diseases, which have become a canker in the progressive development of our dear nation," he noted, adding that to prevent and control the outbreak of diseases, all had to know the causes, effects and remedy for these killer diseases.

Prof. Fobih expressed his conviction that Functional Literacy, a prerequisite for effective learning and acquisition of knowledge, could be the best tool for the vulnerable and communities to acquire knowledge and the skills necessary for prevention and transmission of diseases .

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Sheikh I. C. Quaye, said the theme was a pointer to how the diseases could be adequately treated in the country.

He noted that "certainly functional education cannot be pushed to the wall if we want to find a holistic solution to our health problems".

Sheikh Quaye said it was time for Ghanaians to aggressively work together to combat and ultimately eradicate these diseases from the country, adding that "it is time for us to defeat Malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS and leave the nation free of the menace for our children to inherit".

He said the Greater Accra Region currently had about 520 literacy classes and 12,199 learners, which although were just a fraction of the illiterate population in the region, were the turning point for others to emulate an bring about improvements in living conditions.

The acting Director of the Non-Formal Education Division of the MoESS, Mr James Oppong Afrani, used the occasion to re-launch the National Functional Literacy Programme (NFLP) to enable the division to restrategise the vision of ensuring a society flee of ignorance, diseases, poverty and under-development.

The International Literacy Day, which falls on September 8, 2008 every year, was set aside by the United Nations to sensitize the public to the challenges and problems posed by illiteracy to development.

According to statistics, there are close to about 900 million adult illiterates and over 133 million illiterate children worldwide who have no access to schools.

Some of the participants who took part in a reading competition under the programme in the various regional capitals were rewarded with 21 inch television sets each for emerging winners in their regions.


Source: Daily Graphic