ASSEMBLY TO RE-ROOF SCHOOL BLOCKS DESTROYED BY RAINSTORMS (PAGE 35, OCT 29)

THE Chereponi District Assembly is collaborating with the Community-Based Rural Development Project (CBRDP) in sourcing funding to re-roof buildings, including 40 classrooms, that were destroyed by rainstorms in the district this year.
An estimated GH¢130,000 is needed to rehabilitate the buildings.
Addressing the second ordinary meeting of the assembly at Chereponi, the District Chief Executive (DCE), Alhaji Issah Seidu Abah, said that the educational sector in the district was facing many challenges such as the poor classroom blocks.
He said the assembly was in touch with the CBRDP to re-roof the buildings as soon as practicable.
Alhaji Abah said teachers’ quarters would be provided under the Northern Regional Poverty Reduction Programme (NORPREP).
He said the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) was collaborating with the assembly to employ pupil teachers to augment the number of teachers in the district.
Alhaji Abah further stated that the assembly spent Gh¢33,000 to sponsor about 144 students in various training colleges nation-wide.
Those students, he said, were under bond to serve the district after completion of their course.
The DCE said to avoid impersonation, the executive committee of the assembly had agreed that from the next year, students seeking sponsorship would have to show proof of the payment of their parents’ basic rate for two years.
"Additionally, students should be willing to assist the assembly to mobilise revenue during vacation," he said.
Alhaji Abah expressed concern about the poor performance of the students of junior high schools in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
He said, for instance, that out of the 400 students who took part in this year’s BECE, only 33 of them representing 8.25 per centgot placement in senior high schools.
The DCE, therefore, stressed the need for the Social Services Subcommittee of the assembly to liaise with other relevant stakeholders to come up with concrete suggestions on how to improve the situation.
“This downward trend of education must be arrested and I urge the house to come out with concrete suggestions on this matter,” he further stated.
The Presiding Member of the assembly, Mr Emmanuel Kandoh, entreated chiefs and opinion leaders in the area to embark on vigorous education campaigns against bush fires in their respective communities.
He urged the assembly members to “to exert more energy in the areas of local revenue mobilisation, participation in decision making and feedback to our communities”.