THE Brong Ahafo Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) has taken delivery of 718,000 exercise books for distribution to basic school pupils in the region by the end of the first quarter of this year.
The distribution of the exercise books is in fulfilment of one of the government’s campaign promises to provide free exercise books to all basic school pupils nationwide besides the provision of free school uniforms.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, who announced this at the launch of the Sunyani Municipal Assembly Education Fund, said in addition to the free exercise books for distribution to pupils in the region, plans were afoot to expand facilities in some senior high schools (SHSs) in the region to enable them to admit more students.
Consequently, he said the Sunyani SHS (SUSEC), St. James SHS and Junior Seminary in Sunyani, Dormaa SHS at Dormaa Ahenkro and the Nkrankwanta SHS in the Dormaa West Municipality are some of the schools to benefit from the construction of a two-storey dormitory block each.
This is aimed at enabling them to increase their intake. Others to benefit from the project are the Kwame Danso SHS and the Kejeji SHS, both in the Sene District, and the Nkoranza Technical SHS, which is the only technical school in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Mr Opoku, therefore, called on residents in the region to put away their partisan interests and rally behind the government and the assembly in their efforts to ensure access to quality education for all.
The Deputy Regional Minister also tasked the various municipal and district assemblies (MDAs) in the region to ensure that all school infrastructure in their respective areas of jurisdiction was in good condition to enhance teaching and learning as a way of complementing the efforts of the central government.
The launch coincided with the inauguration of a Board of Trustees to administer the fund chaired by Mrs B.A. Prempeh.
The occasion was on the theme, “Education — Our Progress, Our Future”. According to Mr Kwasi Oppong Ababio, the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), the establishment of the fund was in line with the agenda of the central government and the assembly towards promoting quality education to reduce poverty, fast-track growth and develop the country.
On behalf of the RCC, Mr Opoku donated GH¢5,000, while the Dormaahene, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyeman Badu II, and the Sunyanihene, Nana Bosoma Asor Nkrawirie II, donated GH¢1,000 and GH¢500 respectively towards the fund.
Touching on the education fund, Mr Opoku urged all and sundry in the region, especially corporate bodies, to contribute to the fund to help develop the human resources of the municipality and the nation as a whole.
Rev. Samuel A. Amankwa, the Brong Ahafo Regional Director of Education, in an address read on his behalf, commended the Sunyani Municipal Assembly for establishing the education fund to promote education in the municipality.
He said the fund should not only focus on paying fees for students, but also on the provision of quality textbooks for schools in the municipality and also target dedicated teachers, especially those in deprived communities who wished to further their education.
Mr Ababio commended the assembly members for approving the proposals for the establishment of the fund.
He said the fund sought to harness resources for the benefit of academically promising and needy pupils and students and enhance academic standards in the municipality and improve the teaching and learning environment.
To further support developing the human resource base of the municipality, he said the assembly had planned to undertake a number of projects in the educational sector which included construction of classroom blocks at Daadom, Yawhima, Abesim, Kotokrom, among others.
In separate addresses, Nana Nkrawirie and Nana Kumi Akyeaw, the Abesimhene, who deputised for the Dormaahene, called on the assembly to put in place mechanisms and strategies to sustain the fund through levies and bye-laws, which would be binding on all.
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