A traditional ruler in Sissala in the Upper West Region has commended government for introducing the re-sitting of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for junior high school students.

Gwollu Kuoru Buktie Limann, Paramount Chief of the Gwollu Traditional Area, said: “The best thing government has done to many parents and the nation is the introduction of the re-sitting of BECE because it was bad to close the chapter on the ambitions of the youth at that tender age.”

He said the re-sitting of the BECE was key among other factors in addressing the challenges of youth migration, crime wave and armed robbery. Kuouro Limann was contributing to concerns raised about the falling standards in basic education in the Sissala area at this year’s Annual General Meeting of the Sissala Union in Tumu on Friday.

He said the BECE results in the Sissala area was appalling and called for concerted efforts by stakeholders to help improve academic performance through quality teaching and learning.

Kuoru Limann appealed to teachers to take advantage of the Distance Education Programmes of the various universities to improve their lot.

On the unity of Sissala, Kuoru Limann called on all people of Sissala to come together to develop the area to complement government’s development efforts.

Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, Minister of Roads and Highways, urged the people to disassociate politics from the union activities and focus on the development agenda of Sissala in particular and Ghana as a whole.

He said teenage pregnancy was a challenge to girls’ education and appealed to parents to take control of the upbringing of their children to enable them to obtain higher education.

Alhaji Sulemana, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Sissala West, urged teachers to endeavour to stay in the communities to help instill discipline in the pupils.

Dr Roger Kanton, President of the Sissala Union, said the union was planning to launch former President Hilla Limann and Imoro Egala Memorial Lectures to honour the two personalities who hailed from the Sissala District.

He said the Union had also planned to establish a foundation for the two personalities who had contributed immensely to Ghana’s political development, saying “we are working hard to keep alive the legacy of the two personalities.”