The Vice President John Dramani Mahama has

challenged teachers from the Presbyterian Training Colleges of Education to

bridge
the gap between the private and public schools.
He said with their background of Presbyterian discipline all forms of

laziness, absenteeism and lateness must be eschewed to ensure that at least in

the schools where such students would be posted there would be a difference.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel

Ofosu Ampofo at the Second Graduation ceremony of the Presbyterian

College of Education (PCE) at Akropong on Saturday, he urged the graduands

to make a difference in the schools by living exemplary lives through hard

work.
The Vice-President re-iterated that government placed very high premium

on education and was equally worried with the performance of the public

schools and urged the graduands to let the communities regard them as "newly

trained teachers with new ideas and zeal".
He commended the school for the training of quality teachers over its 160

years of existence and assured them of equipping them with ICT and internet

facilities to augment their training.
The Krontihene of the Akuapem Traditional area, Osahene Gyan Kwasi

Offei who chaired the function called on government to return mission schools

to the missions to ensure discipline and respect for authority in the society.
He observed that the heap of moral decadence that had engulfed the society,

warranted the returning of schools to its missions to instill discipline and moral

uprightness in the youth.
Osahene noted the proverbial Presbyterian discipline that was the hallmark of

every person who had passed through a Presbyterian institution that had gone

down and urged government to consider that suggestion.
Rev. Dr J.O.Y Mante Chairperson of the Akuapem Presbytery observed

that, the Principal of the school had transformed the infrastructure of the

college to a modern centre during his ten years tenure of office and that needed

to be recognized whiles he was alive.
He said whiles people in leadership were claiming ex-gratia "this

indefatigable principal has used what he has both knowledge and strength to

transform the school to an appreciable level".
Dr Mante, who is also the chairman of the Board of Governors of the

college announced that in recognition of that achievement, the Board of

Governors and the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) has decided to name

the school's assembly hall which was the largest assembly hall in a training

college in Ghana after him.
Mr Emmanuel Kingsley Osei, the Principal of the College, in response said

he was overwhelmed with the gesture and expressed gratitude to the Moderator

of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the board for doing him that honour.
He pledged to continue to develop the school's infrastructure to become an

enabling environment for the training of quality teachers for the socio-economic

development of the country.