Wa, June 6, GNA - The Japanese government has assisted the Wa Polytechnic with an amount of 450 US dollars (equivalent 1.7 billion cedis) to enable them to equip all their workshops and run the administration smoothly.

Out of the amount, 800 million cedis would be spent on the Agricultural Engineering Department, about 300 million cedis on Administration, 980 million cedis on Mechanical Engineering, 325 million cedis on Automobile Engineering and 180 million cedis on Dispensary Technology.

Mr. Abraham Kofi-Kuma Aidoo, Principal of the School announced this at Wa on Saturday during the second matriculation ceremony. He said apart from the Japanese government, The Netherlands Programme for International Strengthening of Post-Secondary and Tertiary Education (NUFFIC) was also supporting the school by building the capacities of teachers through foreign training programmes and workshops.

In all, a total of 189 students, made up of 111 Higher National Diploma (HND) and 78 non-tertiary students were matriculated. Mr. Aidoo gave the assurance that by September, this year, the school complex block would be completed to admit more students in the next academic year.

The completion of the blocks, he said, would also facilitate the introduction of more tertiary courses to admit more students. Mr. Ambrose Dery, Upper West Regional Minister warned the students against the use of illicit drugs as stimulants as they could end up in psychiatric hospitals.

He said the government was putting up more infrastructure in schools throughout the country to ease congestion and pave way for the admission of more students.

Mr. Dery advised them against the indulgence in pre-marital and indiscriminate sex as that could result in the spread of HIV/AIDS. "You must all strive very hard to become competent and self-reliant citizens and stop engaging in acts that could impede those ambitions," he concluded.