Regional News of Thursday, 10 July 2003

Source: GNA

Education Minister continues Upper East Tour

Tempane (U/E), July 10, GNA - Mr Joseph Akudibilla, Member of Parliament for Garu-Tempane has donated two 25-inch colour television sets valued at 7 million cedis to the Tempane Senior Secondary School near Garu, in the Bawku East District.

Mr Akudibilla, who is also the Deputy Minister of Defence, announced his intention to provide the school with a generator estimated at 12 million cedis.

He made the presentation at a durbar of chiefs and people of Tempane to welcome the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Mr. Kwdwo-Baah Wiredu who paid a visit to the school as part of a three-day tour of the Upper East Region recently.

Mr Akudibilla explained that the donation was to enable students in the school to benefit from the President's Special Initiative on Distance Learning.

"The only way we can develop our community and the nation as a whole is by educating ourselves," he said.

Mr Akudibilla said both the television sets and the generator were bought from his share of the MPs Common Fund.

He cited the construction of market stalls at Woriyanga, a clinic at Nagani, the sinking of hand-dug wells in some villages and the donation of relief items worth about 16 million cedis to victims of the Bugre conflict as other projects he had undertaken with his share of the Common Fund.

Mr Wiredu said the government was doing all it could to provide quality education to all parts of the country and that the only way parents could reciprocate government's efforts was to send their children to school.

He advised students to refrain from drug use and to eschew acts of indiscipline.

"The huge sums of money being invested in education would be a wasteful venture if students continue to embark on riots and wanton destruction of school property."

Mr. Hamidu Braimah, Headmaster of the school, mentioned inadequate staff accommodation, the lack of means of transport and a science laboratory as some of the school's most pressing problems.

He appealed to the government to connect Tempane to the national electricity grid.