National cohesion promoted through old-students network

The Paramount Chief of New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Prof. Oti Boateng has called on Ghanaians to embrace old-students’ associations as vehicle for national cohesion and development.

He says the old-student network is the most singular enduring network of opportunities and comradeship that come only next to blood relations.

“The old school solidarity is the bedrock of the nation-state of Ghana”, he stated at the unveiling of a program to foster national cohesion.

The ‘Old-Student Profile’ is a weekly 30-minute TV program being hosted by Kafui Dey which profiles selected successful old-school personalities across all spheres of societal leadership.

Under the theme: “Bridging the bond between old-students and schools as key partners in school and national development”, the folks will compete as candidates of their alma mater to determine the Old-School/Old-Student Association of the Month.

The first batch of old-students who have been profiled as candidates of their schools on the programme include Prof Agyeman Badu Akosa, former Director-General of Ghana Health Service, K.B Asante, retired Diplomat, Rev. Dr. Lawrence Tetteh, International Evangelist and Mrs Zita Okaikoi, former Minister for Information.

According to Daasebre Oti Boateng, “the fact that the old-school communicratic culture defies age, religion, class, ethnicity and politics suggest that it remains the most important institution to be harnessed to neutralize the highly polarized nature of the Ghanaian society along political and ethnic lines to bring back the pride of nationalism based on old-student solidarity”.

He urged policy makers, media and corporate stakeholders to support the initiative as a rallying point to mobilize support for educational development, using the conduit of old-school-old-student relationship  as a  collective  moral obligation to the society.

Consultant to the Old-Student Profile program, Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, indicated that the initiative is the first intervention to set the basis for nationwide consciousness to bring the institution of Old-Student into the mainstream educational funding and promotion of socio-economic development.

A Governing Council for the flagship project would be constituted under the distinguished patronage of Daasebre Oti Boateng with key institutional representations including the Ministry of Education, Civil Society and corporate partners to promote the project in the country.

Story Kofi Adu Domfeh