Madam Mercy Ashiagbor, the Ketu North Municipal Director of Education, at the inauguration of a six unit classroom block for the Klenormadi MA Basic School, said basic skill training in the early years of children would help unearth their talents and empower those that were vocationally inclined.

She said not all children were academically excellent, therefore, pupils must be made to realise that skill-based careers were obtainable, to prevent a total abhorrence of education by those less endowed academically.

Mr Anthony Avorgbedor, the Ketu North Municipal Chief Executive, said education development must include a skills enhancement component, noting that a neglect of the latter had caused more children to drop out of school when their academic abilities waned.

He said the Klenormadi Community, like most others in the Municipality, once produced lots of local craft items, but due to dwindling interests in skills development, all such industries had virtually disappeared.

The six-unit classroom block with offices and a toilet facility, was donated by Pencils of Promise, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), with counterpart funding from the Assembly, and with labour support from the community.

Mr Freeman Gobah, the Country Director of the NGO, said education would complement the agrarian economies of rural areas and guarantee industrial vibrancy.

He, therefore, asked parents to support the free education drive by ensuring that their children stayed in school.

Mr Sampson Klutse Gamenya, the Director of the International Centre for Child Studies, who chaired the programme, appealed to parents to provide a balance of academic and social activities to enable the child develop fully.