The Bono East Regional Minister, Francis Owusu Antwi, has expressed satisfaction with the progress of work on the new College of Education being established at Tuobodom in the Techiman North District.
The minister made the remarks after inspecting ongoing construction works at the site together with the District Chief Executive for Techiman North, Johnson Adom.
Mr. Owusu Antwi said the Bono East Region currently has only one College of Education located at Atebubu, and with the addition of two more, the region’s teacher training capacity will be significantly enhanced.
“Bono East Region currently has only one College of Education located at Atebubu. With the addition of two new colleges, one at Tuobodom and the other at Jema, the region will have three Colleges of Education. This will significantly enhance teaching and learning in the region,” he said.
He commended the contractor for the pace and quality of work so far.
“Even though construction started not long ago, work is progressing impressively. The contractor has completed the substructure and foundation works and is now raising pillars, which is very encouraging,” he said.
Giving background to the project, the DCE for Techiman North, Johnson Adom, said the western part of the region has been without a College of Education, putting pressure on the only college at Atebubu.
“You will recall that in 2022, my Honourable Member of Parliament admitted that if you come to Bono East Region, Bono East Region geographically is divided into two. We have the western part and the eastern part. The eastern part comprises about five districts. The eastern part has the benefit of College of Education which is located at Atebubu. But when you come to the western part, which has about six districts, we don’t have College of Education here,” he said.
“The pressure when it comes to admission, Atebubu is unable to contain a lot of applicants and so the Member of Parliament sought partnership with the Roman Catholic Church so that with her own personal funds she begins the construction of the college,” he stated.
Mr. Adom said the project was initiated by the Member of Parliament for Techiman North, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, who secured accreditation for the land and for construction before government absorption.
“During the 2024 campaign she also intimated that when the people support His Excellency John Dramani Mahama he will ensure government absorbs the school. Truly after the 2024 elections, last year 2025, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama absorbed the college,” he said.
He said the Tuobodom college, now registered as St. Dominic College of Education, is receiving comprehensive infrastructure through GETFund.
“Through GETFund, we have numerous projects that we are seeing today. Administration block, hostels for males, hostels for females, principal’s residence, vice principal’s residence, assembly hall, dining hall, kitchen, lecture hall complex. And then we also have eight apartments for lecturers,” he said.
“So this is comprehensive. We have to start with the construction of wall, entrance and the internal roads. So this is a complete College of Education,” he added.
He noted that the new college will bring tertiary education closer to residents of the western enclave.
“What it means to those of us at the western part is that we are not going to struggle with those at the eastern part of the region for admission in the Atebubu College of Education. This is going to bring education closer to the people,” he said.
“This is going to be a hub for the training of future teachers. Today we’ve been touring a lot of educational facilities. We are bringing in more educational facilities and it means that we will need more teachers,” he stated.
