Minister urges parents to send children to school

Akyem Asene (E/R), Nov. 21, GNA - The Minister of Education and Sports, Mr Yaw Osafo Marfo, has called on parents to take advantage of the capitation grant to send their children to school, since the first legacy one can bequeath to his children was education. He said the numerous school structures that the district and metropolitan assembles were putting up would go waste, if parents did not send their children to school.

Mr Osafo Marfo was addressing a grand durbar of the chiefs and people of Akyem Asene in the Birim South District on Saturday to climax their weeklong Bosompra Yam festival.

The occasion coincided with the inauguration of Akyem Asene Salvation Army Primary School and the Local Police Station/staff quarters.

He urged the chiefs and the people to take good care of the school building by maintaining it regularly.

The District Director of Education, Mrs Stella K. Nanor, who stressed the need for girl-child education, advised parents to prevent their children from visiting video centres at the expense of studying at home.

The District Chief Executive, Mr Frank Kwame Busumtwi, expressed concern about the low patronage of the Mutual Health Insurance Scheme, saying, out of a population of about 189,000 in the district, only 18,000 had registered so far.

The Akyem Asenehene, Nana Arko Frempong, II, appealed to the government to provide the town with a senior secondary school and also called for assistance for the completion of their market. An appeal for funds yielded over 30 million cedis with Mr Osafo Marfo and Professor Christopher Ameyaw Ekumfi, Minister of Ports and Railways, contributing a total of five million cedis.