PARENTS URGED TO ENROL THEIR CHILDREN IN SCHOOL (PAGE 35, NOV 8, 2010)

THE Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, has called on parents, especially those in the countryside, to take advantage of the numerous interventions by the government to enrol their children in school.
He mentioned some of the interventions as the supply of free school uniform and exercise books policy, as well as the provision of modern classroom infrastructure.
According to him, the government has also increased the number of beneficiary schools on the school feeding programme, especially in deprived communities, to encourage more children to go to school.
The regional minister, therefore, appealed to the people in the area to let the education of their children be their priority, as it was the cornerstone of the country’s human resource development and social uplift.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, who represented the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, as the special guest of honour, made the call at a colourful durbar of chiefs and people of Banda Ahenkro in the Tain District to climax their annual Fordjour Yam festival at Banda Ahenkro.
The durbar was also used to raise funds for the construction of a weekly market for the area initiated by the Omanhene of Banda Traditional Area, Okokyeredom Kwadwo Sito I.
The government delegation, led by Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, pledged 15 packets of roofing sheets worth GH¢3,000 and GH¢2,000 cash towards the construction of the market.  
The occasion also served as a remembrance and thanksgiving for the ancestors for protecting the people over the years and asked for more blessing in the years ahead.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo explained that the interventions by the government in the educational sector were geared towards the lessening of the financial burden on parents. 
He urged Ghanaians to use their annual festivals to plan for self-help development projects and generation of adequate funds to support the education sector.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo further admonished Ghanaians to use festivals as a rallying point to promote unity and reconciliation.  
The Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Alexander Asum Ahensah, implored chiefs, who are the repository of the country’s rich cultural heritage, to use festivals to revive the country’s culture which was dying slowly.
He stated that chieftaincy disputes were a bother to the government, since they retard development.
Mr Ahensan, therefore, urged the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs to find possible ways of resolving all the 56 chieftaincy disputes pending before it.
The President of the Regional House of Chiefs, Osahene Kwaku Aterkyi, who is also the Kukuomhene, said the region lagged behind in girls’ education in the country.
He, therefore, called on stakeholders, especially Nananom, to lead the crusade to promote girls’ education and to abolish cultural practices affecting the well-being of girls and undermining their education.
The Omanhene of Banda Traditional Area, Okokyeredom Kwadwo Sito I, appealed to chiefs in the area with inter or intra community disagreements to use the festival to bury their differences to enhance the development of the area.
The Omanhene of Yeji Traditional Area, Pemanpem Yaw Kagbrese V, who is also the Vice-President of the Regional House of Chiefs, chaired the function.
He reiterated the call on the chiefs to use the festival to unite their people.