FREE SUPPLY OF UNIFORMS WILL BE SUSTAINED (PAGE 22, OCT 30, 2010)

THE Dormaa West Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Vincent Oppong Asamoah, has stated that the government’s policy to supply free school uniforms to deprived schools is not a nine-days’ wonder.
He said the intervention would continue every year as far as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government was concerned.
The MCE also stated that schools in deprived communities in the municipality would benefit from the school feeding programme which had been increased from 1,500 to 3,000 by the government to entice more children to enrol in schools.
Mr Asamoah gave the assurance when he distributed the government’s free school uniforms to 240 pupils in the Kofiasua Primary School in the municipality in fulfilment of the NDC’s manifesto for the realisation of the “Better Ghana” agenda.
Already more than 100,000 free exercise books have been distributed to the schools in the municipality.
Mr Asamoah said the aim of the government was to reduce the burden on parents in financing education.
The MCE explained that the government would ensure the success of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) to enhance quality education delivery since no country could develop without education.
He reiterated the government’s commitment to provide rural communities with the necessary social amenities such as potable water, good roads, electricity and quality classroom blocks to ensure that the people live in dignity.
Mr Asamoah advised the teachers to offer their best, and cautioned them against drunkenness.
He also urged the pupils to keep their surroundings clean to avoid the outbreak of diseases, adding that the schools must plant more trees and flowers to beautify their compounds.
The Dormaa West Municipal Deputy Director of Education, Mr Atakorah Amaniampong, who received the uniforms on behalf of the schools, thanked the MCE and the government for the gesture, and gave the assurance that the uniforms would encourage the children to go to school.
He said the uniforms had come at the right time to reduce the burden on parents.
Mr Amaniampong urged the teachers to eschew alcoholism, laziness and absenteeism, stressing that parents should take keen interest in the education of their children.