Five NEPAD catering centres for Atwima-Nwabiagya schools

Toase (Ash), Feb 27, GNA - The Atwima-Nwabiagya District Assembly is putting up five catering centres in all the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) feeding schools in the district at the cost of 900 million cedis.

The communities are Kobeng, Adagya, Kyereyease, Dabaa and Barekuma. Each catering centre consists of a dining hall, kitchen, store and an office.

Mr Thomas Ofori-Donkor, the District Chief Executive, said this at an educational durbar organized by the Toase Catholic Primary School at Toase on Friday.

It formed part of activities marking this year's Catholic Education Week that included quiz competition, clean-up exercise, sporting activities, drama, lectures and a church service. Mr Ofori-Donkor said the Ministry of Education and Sports had distributed 25 colour television sets to some basic schools in the district to promote the President's Special Initiative (PSI) on Distance Education.

He said the assembly has made adequate provision to put up extra classrooms to accommodate many school-going age children who have been enrolled in schools as a result of the government's fee-free education programme.

In addition, Mr Ofori-Donkor said teachers' living accommodation would be built in some deprived rural school communities to entice qualified teachers to accept postings to those areas. Mr Baffour Asare-Bediako, an Assistant Director of Education, stressed the importance of healthy school-community relationship and advised parents to interact regularly with teachers. He said many children were still at home despite the fee-free education programme and urged parents to encourage them to go to school. Reverend Father James Boakye-Agyemang, the parish priest of Toase Saint Peter Catholic Church, said acquisition of academic knowledge without moral principles was not enough for the total development of the society and called on the pupils to cultivate good habits. Nana Ofori Acheampong, Ankobeahene of Toase, said the traditional authorities had instituted a mechanism to discourage pupils from patronizing video and the other social centres after normal classes as a measure to promote quality education. 27 Feb 06