NORPRA commended for supporting education in Upper East

Bolgatanga, Aug 30, GNA - Mr. Epsona Harry Ayamga, Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), has commended the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA), for organising vacation classes for about 800 Senior and Junior High Schools students in the Upper East Region.

Graduate teachers are teaching the beneficiaries students from Bolgatanga Municipality, Bongo and Talensi Nabdam Districts, in Arts, Business and Science among others subjects.

This came to light when the president of NORPRA, Mr. Bismark Adongo Ayorogo and some members of the group conducted the MCE round to observe teaching and learning at Awogeya Primary School in the Municipality, one of the centres where the classes were being organized.

Mr Ayamba praised NORPRA for the initiative, which he said would help address the low standards of education in the region.

He advised the students that “You must not spend much of your time watching films at the expense of your books or else you will fail your exams”, saying that academic achievement was the only tool that could redeem them from poverty and ignorance.

Mr. Ayamga said that because government was committed to the development of education it has introduced pro-poor educational measures including increase of funds for the Capitation Grant and School Feeding Grants among others.

He said government had also accepted the Anamuah–Mensah Committee Report including the proposal that the duration of the Senior High School programme be reduced from 4 years to 3 years.

Mr Ayamba said government was planning to give 20 per cent of teachers' salary as an allowance for those who would accept posting to rural areas.

Mr. Ayorogo said NORPRA initiated the vacation classes to help improve the standards of education in the region and to engage students in academic work to prevent them from involving themselves in social vices and travelling to the cities to look for no-existing jobs.

He commended the graduate teachers for their sacrifice and appealed to groups and philanthropists to assist NORPRA to sustain the classes.

Some of the students appealed to the MCE to provide their schools with Information and Communication Technology facilities, teaching and learning materials and also ensure that electricity was extended to their schools to promote academic work.

GNA