The President, John Dramani Mahama, yesterday opened a three-day National Education Forum in Ho, the Volta Regional capital.
Before he delved into his address, President Mahama expressed his sincere apology on behalf of the Planning Committee of the National Education Forum to stakeholders of faith-based organisations for the unpardonable omission committed by way of delaying their invitation to the forum.
He said: "I'm aware that the omission was very speedily remedied, but you still deserve an unqualified apology for this oversight. And since you are the purveyors of God's mercy on earth, I'm sure that you are forgiving us for this."
"We know you are important stakeholders because you own some of the schools, and so this educational forum is important to see how we carry everybody together," the President added.
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President Mahama's apology was in response to a joint statement issued in Accra yesterday by the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference (GCBC) and the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) expressing their disappointment in the government following their exclusion from the ongoing education forum.
The two bodies stated that even though the list of invitees to the national level stakeholders included some organisations that were affiliated to them, they as the parent bodies were excluded from the forum.
Now delving into his speech, President called on participants to identify effective ways of transforming the country's educational system.
The stakeholders are deliberating on finding effective strategies to address the challenges confronting quality education delivery, and find lasting solution to the problems.
The three-day forum, under the theme: "Transforming education for a sustainable future", is being attended by teacher unions, civil society groups, faith-based organisations, traditional authorities and students among others.
President Mahama stressed the need for the type of education system that would resonate with the development needs of the country, to address the educational needs of the youth for the present and future generations.
He stressed that it was important for the country to have a holistic education that would be capable of addressing the development needs of communities.
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President Mahama expressed the hope that the forum would come out with solutions that would bring the needed reforms in the education system in the country.
He asked participants to work hard and ensure that teachers would be placed at the centre of the new educational reforms in the country, to ensure quality and relevant education delivery in the country.
President Mahama also urged participants to help bring the needed educational reforms that would make the Ghanaian child compete favourably at the global stage, and the country also boast of the finest human capital for development.
He noted that the forum marked a significant landmark in fulfilling his promise to make education a tool for implementing social mobility and ensuring rapid national development.
The Agbogbomefia of Asogli Traditional Area, Togbe Afede XIV, lauded the speed at which the President was going about his duties.
The chief said the citizens had high hopes that government would use the numerous resources to develop the country, including investment in quality education.
Togbe Afede said it was important that government had taken the decision to engage stakeholders to bring the necessary reforms that would enable education to become a tool for poverty reduction and engender national development.
The Minister of Education, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, urged the participants to take the forum seriously to enable the country to review and bring the needed transformation to the educational sector.
