Agona Swedru (C/R), Oct. 2, GNA - Less than half of the total number= of candidates who sat for 2011 Basic Education Certificate Examination in Agon= a West qualified to enter Senior High Schools and technical institutions. Mr Francis Obeng-Ampadu, the Municipal Director of Education, said out of 2,241candidates only 980 obtained aggregates between 6 and 30 to gain admission.

Mr Obeng-Ampadu said this when briefing the Agona West Municipal Assembly about the performance of the students in the 2011 BECE at Agona Swedru. He said the result was however an improvement over last year's resul= ts, adding that it increased from 27.5 percent last year to 37.9 percent this year. He said the number of schools that scored zero percent increased from four to five this year saying that the poor results was due to a number of factors including the lack of finance to supervisors to go round schools, lack of commitment of teachers and the failure of parents to provide the basic academic items to their wards.

Mr Obeng-Ampadu appealed to the Assembly and other stakeholders in education to take the appropriate steps to help reverse the situation. He said the absence of the Educational Oversight Committee has affecte= d the proper management of the schools adding that he has directed head teachers and other teachers staying outside the town to ensure that they arrive to school early.

Mr Obeng-Ampadu appealed to the Agona West Assembly to support the Ghana Education Service in its efforts at improving education in the Municipality.