4th Graduation Ceremony
Jayee Professional Training Institute - 20th April 2002
Jophus Anamuah-Mensah
Madam Chairperson,
Director, JAYEE Institute,
Your Excellency, Member of the Council of State,
Regional director of Education,
Ag. Director General of Education,
Alumni of JAYEE Secretariat,
Staff and Students,
Invited Guests,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
I deem it an honour and privilege to be invited to be part of this celebration, which marks
the 4th Graduation ceremony of JAYEE Institute, which is fast developing into an
institution that is recognised nationally and in the ECOWAS sub-region. I will like to
congratulate you on your 4th Graduation ceremony and 14th Anniversary of this institution
and wish that with each Graduation, the school will continue to achieve its objective of
turning out well educated and skilled citizens who will play prominent roles in the
development of our dear nation. I wish to thank the Chairman and members of the
planning Committee for the invitation.
Madam Chairperson, Celebrations like this are occasions for taking stock of the activities
of the institute to determine how far the vision and mission of the institute are being
attained as well as examining the challenges likely to face the institution in the years
ahead. This is what the Director of the Institute has expertly done.
Madam Chairperson, as a vocational, technical training institution, JAYEE has a lot to
offer towards the development of the country. It is noteworthy that the world is being
moved by the phenomenal increases in technological development, involving new ways
of doing things. Developed countries have used this to create wealth and reduce
unemployment. On the other hand, developed countries have played lip service to
technical and vocational education and training and have thus not benefited from the
immense opportunities made available by the current technological wave.
In Ghana, for example, the Ministry of Education spends only about 1% of its budget on
technical and vocational training. This is highly inadequate. For the country to achieve a
middle-income status and attain the goals of the Golden Age of Business, Ghana needs a
workforce that is knowledgeable, skilled, productive and adaptable to the changing
demands of industry and business. These are the creators and innovators that the country
needs to be competitive in both the internal and external markets. Technical and
vocational education should receive massive funding to enable the country benefit from
it.
Madam chairperson, it is also noted that many of the technical and vocational institutes
are privately owned. These institutions tend not to have adequate facilities or state of the
art equipment needed to support the new demands of business. It is important for the
Government to provide some support in the form of soft loans for these institutions to
develop.
Another issue worth looking at is the negative image that the public has about technical
and vocational training. People tend to see those who enter these institutions as dropouts.
Rather these are people with very high talents, abilities and potentials, which the
school system has continuously failed to identify and nurture. These are the movers and
shakers, the ones needed for the new technological dispensation. As the backbone for the
economic emancipation of the country, technical and vocational training needs to be
given a new image- a positive image in an era of positive change.
Madam Chairperson, permit me to touch on the theme for your celebration. The theme
chosen for this celebration; THE AIDS PANDEMIC: THE ROLE OF THE
SECRETARY is very appropriate and timely, coming at a time when the general public
is being called upon to wage a relentless crusade against the HIV/AIDS which is
destroying the lives of many people in the country.
Madam Chairperson, since its discovery in 1983 by scientists in France, the Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (AIDS), has brought about a global epidemic far more extensive than could
be imagined. In Ghana, it has
grown to become a household word that only few people
can swear not to have any knowledge about. We are aware of its mode of transmission,
namely, sexual intercourse, blood transfusion, injecting equipment contaminated with
HIV/AIDS and mother to infant transmission. Despite the many misconceptions that
people have about the disease, we know that it cannot be transmitted through insect bites,
coughing, handshake, touching, kissing, sharing cups and other utensils, and food.
Madam Chairperson, it is acknowledged that no cure has been found for this dreadful
disease although it is known that drugs can be administered to increase the lifespan of
affected individuals. It is also known that a person infected with HIV may have no
symptoms for up to ten (10) years or more. Almost all HIV infected persons will
ultimately develop HIV-related diseases and AIDS. We have seen that as HIV infection
progresses immunity declines, people become more and more susceptible to opportunistic
infections such as: tuberculosis, septicaemia, pneumonia, fungal infections of the skin,
mouth and throat, unexplained fever, meningitis, chronic diarrhoea, cancers, etc.
Madam chairperson, the epidemic nature of the disease is assuming alarming and
uncontrollable proportion and is affecting a large number of people all over the world.
The disease continues to spread around the world, moving into communities previously
least troubled by the epidemic, and at the same time strengthening its grip on areas where
already AIDS is the leading cause of death in adults (Age 15-49).
Madam Chairperson, the UNAIDS and WHO estimates indicate that at the end of the
year 2000 over 36 million people (including 16.4 million women) were infected with
HIV/AIDS – out of which 27 million did not know their HIV status, and that, 21.8
million people around the world (including 9 million women) had already lost their lives
through the disease. In sub-Saharan Africa, 25.3 million adults and children are living
with HIV/AIDS. This is far more than any other region in the world.
Madam Chairperson, unless a cure is found, or life-prolonging therapy can be made more
widely available, the majority of those now living with HIV/AIDS will die within a
decade. The virus continues to spread causing nearly 15,000 new infections a day; and in
Ghana, we are already too familiar with the average infection rate of 215. In the year
2000 alone, 3 million people (more than half were women) died. These are not meant to
scare anyone, Madam Chairperson, but are the stark reality, which must not be taken for
granted.
Indeed, HIV/AIDS is among the top ten killers world wide, and given current levels of
HIV infection, it may soon move into the top five according to a UNAIDS/WHO report
of 1999.
Madam Chair, making the situation much more worrisome are the economic and sociocultural implications of the facts discussed above.
First, it is established that the age bracket, which is predominantly infected by the HIVAIDS scourge, is the category of adults aged between 15 and 49 years. Incidentally,
Madam Chair, this is the economically productive age group of the society. Granted that
half of the 36.1 million adults living with the disease should die within the next decade,
what then happens to labour, acquired experience, productivity and industry?
In South Africa, the epidemic was projected to reduce the economic growth rate by 0.30.4 % annually, resulting in the loss of US$22 billion in the year 2000. Similarly, in
Botswana, it was estimated that 20% of the budget would be sliced off resulting in the
erosion of development gains and increasing poverty. We do not have the figures for
Ghana but I will imagine that a substantial percentage of the budget is wiped off as a
result of this menace.
Mr. Chairman, the social implications are much more disastrous viewed from the
perspective of both the infected and the affected. The psychological strain and stress of
being stigmatised as a victim is just one side of the situation; but equally disturbing is the
shock and trauma that family members and loved ones go through at the break of the
news and the eventual loss of their beloved who sometimes might be the breadwinner of
the family. In some situations a whole family is wiped out, as is the case in Botswana
and Uganda.
The other side of it, Madam Chairperson, is for dependants of HIV-AIDS victims to
relive their whole lives again. When things happen this way, the home/the family is
shattered; and sometimes the eldest of the children, who might not be well over twelve
years, takes up the responsibility of catering for the other siblings. – what a huge
inevitable experiment! Here then, the social task of government becomes enormous.
Madam Chairperson, with all these threatening scenarios, the secretary’s work comes into
sharp focus.
Professionally, the secretary is the employee whose work includes a variety of activities
that help keep an office running smoothly and efficiently. They may assist one person or
work for a number of people. Their duties may include word processing, editing, sorting
mails, answering telephones, taking messages, covering meetings and seminars,
managing records, scheduling and interacting with company clients and visitors.
Many secretaries, Madam Chairperson, also coordinate office procedures, supervise other
office support personnel, plan meetings, and use computers to organise and store
information. Indeed, Mr. Chairman, I personally see the work of the secretary as a noble
profession without which commerce and industry will certainly be grounded to a halt;
and that is why institutions such as JAYEE Professional Training Institute must be
commended for a good job done not only for responding to industry’s demand for
efficient and dedicated secretaries, but also for assisting government realise its ideal of
expanding the frontiers of technical and vocational education in the country.
In the face of globalisation and the challenges it poses, coupled with the demands of the
job market, it is quite imperative for secretarial-related institutions in the country to
consider up-dating their curricula. The Secretary functions essentially in the economic,
business or industrial milieu but lives in a social environment and therefore cannot claim
total immunity from the vagaries of the HIV/AIDS menace.
But in reality, Madam Chairperson, does the secretary’s work put her at risk in anyway
with the HIV/AIDS disease? Indeed whatever the situation, the slogan should be ‘We are
all at risk’ and therefore each and everyone must be extra careful.
But in the Secretary’s situation what readily comes to mind is the issue of SecretaryBoss’ relationship. – to what extent should it go especially, in circumstances where the
two are of different sexes? In such situations, Madam Chair, each must exhibit the
maximum self-restraint so that any unwarranted advances could be courteously rebuffed
by any of them.
I am aware that the Secretary’s profession is guided by a well-regimented code of ethics,
which include the mode of dressing, talking, facial expressions, etc. Indeed, it is often
said that the Secretary’s personality is an expression of the embodiment of the business;
and I wonder if I could be permitted to say that in all these, modesty rather than
sophistication should be the guiding principle.
Ladies and Gentlemen, sometimes too, in performing your duties as Secretaries you may
easily be charmed unknowingly by the sheer appearance, affluence smartness,
intelligence, etc. of a client and easily fall into amorous relationship with him or her. I
think these are some of the petty challenges that could come your way in the performance
of your professional duties as secretaries.
In such situations, my candid suggestion would be that you must be well focused in life;
aim at leading settled life early and never relent in prospecting into the ultimate of your
chosen career. Above all be God-fearing in everything that you do. Sex outside marriage
should be avoided at all cost. The Good Book admonishes us to submit our bodies as
living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God and this should be our spiritual act of worship.
You are also told not to conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. (Rom. 12:1,2). Unless you renew your mind from now on, you
will most likely find yourself being destroyed by the HIV/AIDS menace.
Conclusion
Madam Chairperson, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, an occasion like this offers the
opportunity for the Institute to honour the graduands who have worked so hard to excel
not only in examinations but also in leadership and other extra curricular activities. I will
like to congratulate all the recipients of the various prizes. Do not rest on your oars;
continue to work hard and you will achieve your life’s goal and make JAYEE
Professional Institute proud. This should not be the end of your studies. You should
continue to read, attend in-service training and upgrading courses, and generally.
Madam Chair, one social issue that is fast becoming a canker in the society is the spate of
indiscipline in our institutions- from the second cycle to the tertiary level. It is said that
effective schooling requires discipline. I implore you to be of good behaviour, respect
your elders and peers and above all maintain high standards of discipline in school and
out of school. Be good ambassadors of JAYEE especially when you leave the walls of the
school.
To you the staff who have continued to sacrifice to produce quality products for
commerce and business, I say Ayeekoo. Continue to exhibit excellence in your teaching.
The development of this institution will depend on your dedication.
I must say at this point that as a result of inspection conducted in the school, a process
has been set in motion to affiliate JAYEE Professional Institute to the University College
of Education of Winneba. The successful completion of the process will enable JAYEE
to offer certificates, and diplomas of the university.
I wish you a happy anniversary and may God richly bless you.
Thank you.