PALMER-BUCKLE VACATION CAMP OPENS (PAGE 20)

AN educational and cultural retreat dubbed “Palmer-Buckle Vacation Camp” is currently underway in Koforidua.
The two-week programme under which pupils drawn from basic schools in the New Juaben Municipality are schooled in all aspects of the Ghanaian culture in addition to academic programmes, was initiated 10 years ago by the then Catholic Bishop of Koforidua, Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, who is now the Accra Metropolitan Archbishop.
The programme, which has been organised by the Eastern Regional office of the Centre for National Culture (CNC) for the past 10 years, is usually supported by the Archbishop and some individuals.
They are Mr Tsibu Gyan, Messrs Kwabena Abankwa Yeboah and Richard Okrah, managing directors of Sharp Pharmaceuticals and of Intravenous Infusions, respectively, as well as corporate bodies such as the Eastern Regional offices of MTN and tiGO, Unimax Macmillan, Aunt Nancy Foundation, Holland; and the Cocoa Processing Company in Tema.
This year’s programme, which is on the theme: “Discovering the Potential Within You to Make a Difference”, brought together 200 pupils and students from junior and senior high schools in the municipality.
Some of the schools are Nana Kwaku Boateng, Presbyterian Trinity, Wesley International, Catholic junior high schools, the Koforidua Senior High School (KOSEC) and the Pentecost Senior High School.
In his address, Archbishop Palmer-Buckle asked parents to attach special importance to the education of their children.
The archbishop was grateful for the commitment of the CNC for the programme. He suggested that the programme should be residential.
The Regional Director of the CNC, Mr F. Kingsley Obeng, asked the participants to make good use of the programme to make them useful citizens in the future.
The New Juaben Municipal Director of Education, Mrs Christiana Agyare Boateng, expressed regret that the current educational system the country mainly focused on schoolchildren passing their examinations, with little room to identify their true potential.
An alumna of the camp, Miss Edith Abrefa, who is now a university student, shared her experiences at the camp, which she said had been very beneficial to her.
She appealed to other regional directors of the CNC to organise similar programmes in their areas.