Lawra (U/W), Jan. 27, GNA - Out of 1,438 students who for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Lawra District, only 719 representing 50 per cent passed.

Mr. Samson Abu, the Lawra District Chief Executive, said this during the presentation of awards to best teachers and non-teaching staff of the Ghana Education Service at Lawra.

He said this did not portray the kind of quality education the district wished for and appealed to stakeholders to institute pragmatic measures to change the situation for the better.

"You need to eschew all forms of negative attitudes towards work and discharge your duties with commitment, zeal and professionalism in the interest of our future leaders" he told the teachers.

He called for an education forum of all the sons and daughters of the district including all relevant stakeholders to enable them dialogue on the possible way forward in terms of reversing the situation.

Mr. Abu urged the District Education Directorate and the District Education Oversight Committee to support the monitoring and supervision unit to enable it function effectively.

He congratulated the 33 award winners for their selfless sacrifices and dedication to their work.

He said the district had not been able to award its hard working teachers and non-teachers since 2006 and thanked the awardees for their patience in waiting for this long to receive their wards.

Mr. Andrew Kpan, the District Director of Education, lauded the award winners and urged them to see it as a challenge for them to do more to raise the performance of their various schools.

The 33 awardees took home 60 items including 40 televisions and 20 radio cassette players. Some 164,562 exercise books and 2,000 pieces of school uniforms were also distributed to school pupils.