Pasro (Ash), Oct 31, GNA - Despite the government's fee-free education programme, more than 30 per cent of children of school-going age at Pasro in the Atwima-Nwabiagya district of Ashanti are still out of school and engaged in child labour.

Mr Peter Opoku-Agyemang, a retired educationist and an opinion leader at Pasro, who disclosed this, said many of the children in the area engage in petty trading and farming to raise income for the family. He disclosed this at an educational forum organised by the Atwima-Nwabiagya District Education Directorate for community leaders at Pasro and Kapro last Friday.

It was aimed at reactivating the School Management Committees (SMCs) of the two Schools of the communities to make them functional so as to meet the challenges of the government's new educational reform programme, which takes off next academic year.

The forum also identified and discussed pertinent problems that undermined quality education delivery in the area. Mr Opoku-Agyemang said efforts by some concerned citizens and the SMC to address the problems were being thwarted by some parents and guardians, who he added, have =93little value for education".

He, however, said the SMC has intensified the enrolment and retention drive to entice more children to go to school. Mr Kwaku Duah Achamfour, headteacher of the Pasro Junior Secondary School, said 49 out of the 51 candidates presented for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) passed. Nana Takyi Ababio, chief of Papro said the traditional rulers in the area have instituted several measures, including the provision of educational infrastructure and a scholarship scheme to promote education standard in the area.

He announced that a piece land has been earmarked for the construction of teachers' accommodation block to relieve them from commuting daily from Kumasi to school and appealed to the District Assembly for building materials. Nana Asumang Dankwa, chief of Pasro, who presided, lauded the education directorate for the forum, which he said, had helped the community leaders not only to identify educational problems in the area but also to draw attention to their roles and responsibilities.