He said education should not be a book-long and straight jacket approach, but there should be conscious efforts to inculcate in children moral values that would help shape them to become complete and responsible citizens.

Dr. Prempeh, who is also the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South in the Ashanti Region, was an answering a question regarding frequent examination leakages and malpractices that had bedevilled the country’s education system, on Tuesday, when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament.

The minister of education designate believed that teachers were the fulcrum around which quality education could be realised and, therefore, assured that the government would provide them with the necessary incentives and motivation packages to deliver.

He stated that gender parity was crucial in ensuring females achieve higher heights in education, therefore, government would avoid any gender discriminatory policies, but rather encourage mentorship for female students, especially those at the tertiary level, to be able to achieve their aspirations.

Dr. Prempeh, a medical practitioner, said government would expand the School Feeding Programme and ensure prompt payment of caterers so that they could provide nutritious meals to the beneficiaries.

‘‘The School Feeding Programme should not be a political-game because it’s a tool for increasing school enrolment and retention therefore our party will respect contracts and rule of law by paying caterers engaged timeously, ’he stated.

The ministerial-nominee said that the School Placement System should be more transparent and place candidates, who got the required raw scores in their preferred Senior High Schools (SHS).

However, he said, there should be a model SHS in each district in the country, so that the underprivileged candidates could have access to quality education irrespective of their location.

Responding to measures government would institute in mainstreaming technical and vocational education, Dr. Prempeh said the government would support various technical and vocational educational institutions in the country with capital and logistics, so that they would produce the required human resource that would fit into the job market and perform to the expectations of their employers.

Addressing the issue of religious intolerance as concerns raised by some Muslim Communities in the country, the nominee stated that Ghana was a sovereign nation that believed in religious freedom, and the government would not condone in any religious intolerance, saying, ‘‘We are one people therefore we must respect each other’s religious belief’’.