Bolgatanga, June 14, GNA - A block of six classrooms constructed at a cost of 355.9 million cedis for the St. Charles Primary School in the Bolgatanga Municipality was on Thursday handed over to the school for use.

Speaking at the ceremony Mr Abukari Musah, Deputy Municipal Director of Education, urged parents, teachers and pupils to cultivate the culture of maintenance to prolong the lifespan of the building. Mr Musah commended the Catholic Church for funding the construction of the school block and expressed the hope that the Church would continue to collaborate with the Municipal Assembly in the field of education.

He said it was the duty of government to provide schools but as the demand was so enormous help from other partners was welcome. Reverend Father Moses Akebule, Cathedral Administrator and Parish Priest of the Bolgatanga Sacred Heart Cathedral, commended the Parent-Teacher Association for initiating the project with an amount of 25 million cedis.

Reverend Father Akebule said the bulk of the money came from donors based in Rome and the Sacred Heart Parish.

He indicated that it was the pastoral duty of the Catholic Church to provide for the vulnerable in society, especially the education of children and urged the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly to provide infrastructure for the mission schools where there was over-enrolment. He urged the Assembly to extend consideration to the urban poor and not to concentrate on only the rural areas.

Mr Joachim Akagre, Deputy Director at the Municipal Education Directorate called on parents to continuously monitor their wards' academic progress by visiting the schools regularly. Mr Akagre said quality education could be achieved when teachers were well motivated to keep children interested in learning and urged parents to provide the basic learning needs of their wards. He said the capitation grant could not provide for all the needs of the schools and called on parents to assist the schools to develop, since government could not do it alone.