We should not look down on technical education – Dr J.B. Danquah Esq.
Dr. Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah
It is unfortunate for some Ghanaians to relate technical education to the weak minds.
This notion, according to legal practitioner and Chief Executive Officer of Joevide Company Limited in Kumasi, Dr. Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah, grand-nephew of Dr. J.B. Danquah (of blessed Memory), does not hold water.
“Secondary School is not the only means through which someone can go to a university,” he stressed.
The legal practitioner who held technical education in high esteem early in his life saw it (technical education) as one of the possible paths he could take, wholeheartedly to attain his dream.
As a result, he opted for St. Paul Technical School (SPATS) at Akyem-Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region and Studied Block Laying and Concreting (BLAC).
Basic Education
Dr. Danquah ESQ attended Kyebi Presbyterian Primary as well as Kyebi L/A Experimental then to Koforidua Wisdom Preparatory and later to the Koforidua Junior High School (JHS) as the pioneer of the Experimental System.
And after JHS, his class mates went to secondary school but he stuck to his father’s pieces of advice and went to a Technical School.
“My father told us that every child of his must be able to feed himself and live meaningful life after school.
Lawyer Dr. Danquah said that his father considered technical education more important because anybody who attended a technical school in those days could easily get employment compared with secondary school leavers.
“In my father’s opinion, it was easier for a technical school leaver to get a job than a Secondary School Form Five (5) leaver,” he said.
He further stated that true to his father’s advice, he (Dr. Danquah) did not become a wayward child when his father died in 1983 because he (Dr. Danquah) was already in a technical school and spent all the holidays at construction site working to earn an income for his upkeep.
“I was always at the construction site carrying blocks and mortar for a living following the constructive advice of my father to go to a technical school,” he emphasised.
He says that “one can attain the highest educational qualification in this world through other means rather than secondary education.
Dr. Danquah said that in the course of his sterling performance at the various sites, he realised that there was a brighter chance for him to be a Supervisor or a Site Engineer one day if he could further his education to put him on a higher pedestal in this technological world.
“I have never regretted in doing a technical course. Technical education is the foundation of the developed economy in the world,” he stressed.
Further Education
To enjoy the benefits of technical education, the C.E.O of Joevide Company Limited weighed the available options and entered the Takoradi Polytechnic, now Takoradi Technical University, and obtained Ordinary Technician Diploma in Building and Civil Engineering which broadened his horizon in studying Mathematices, Building Construction and Drawing, Properties of Material, Land Surveying, Workshop Practice and Technology, Structures and Design as well as Elementary Quantity Surveying.
The aforestated subjects could make Lawyer Dr. Danquah decide to work in the building industry or otherwise.
Work Experience
The hardworking C.E.O. of Joevide Company worked at Sae Sadelmi as Quantity Surveyor, Limex Bau (a German Company) and with his firm technical background, he came into contact with some quantity Surveyors and Civil Engineers from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
He said that by dint of hard work coupled with his background in technology appreciated by the Resident German Director of Limex Bau, he rose to become the Chief Engineer of the company in a matter of three years.
But he later resigned and established his own company by name “Joevide Company Limited” which had undertaken several road and building projects as the main contractors and sub contractors in various parts of the country.
Some of his company’s clients are Goil, Total, Consar, Getfund, some Municipal Assemblies, DANIDA, Ghana Highway Authority, Department of Feeder Roads, AGDECO (a British Company) and MSF Construction among other reputable organisations.
He joined lecturers from selected technical universities who had been granted permission to pursue their Master’s Degree at HAN University in the Netherlands after which he decided to read law ie LLB and LLM at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi.
During his studies for his two Master’s degrees, his Dissertation earned him Doctor of Business Administration in Leadership and strategic Management (Honoris Causa).
Advice
Dr. J.B Danquah Esq. advised the youth to see perseverance as the key to whatever one wants to achieve in life. He again urged the youth to heed to wise counsel as there was no short cut to success.
He is married to Mrs. Vida Danquah and they have Kojo Katakyie, Kofi Kantinka, Kwesi Kokroko, Nana Yaw Obrempong and Nhyira Mamfoah as their children.
By Castro Zangina-Tong
