Nyariga (U/E), Oct 29, GNA - A 110-million-cedi block of classrooms for Nyariga-Doone Girls Junior Secondary School (JSS) has been commissioned at Nyariga, near Bolgatanga.

'Shape Life Foundation' and 'Bless Basket Project', a joint international non-governmental organisation involved in collaborative efforts at poverty alleviation, funded the Project, initiated by the Nyariga-Doone Mothers Club.

Commissioning the project, the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Boniface Gambila, urged parents to send their children to school since they would no longer pay school fees with the Government's introduction of the capitation grant.

He stressed that the best legacy parents could leave behind for their children was education. "Children can take good care of themselves and their parents in future when given proper education", he emphasised. He indicated that under the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), pupils would be given one free meal a day in schools as part of efforts to promote education in the country. Mr Gambila mentioned Zebilla, Sandema, and Nab-dam in the Upper East Region as areas where the school feeding programme was being implemented on pilot basis, and said very soon it would be extended to other districts.

He said the government had disbursed 100 million cedis to every district in the country to assist women to venture into small businesses so as to empower them to be able to send their children to school. He urged Chiefs and community members to create and maintain very good rapport between them and teachers. This, he noted, would motivate the teachers to give off their best.

Mr Gambila called on authorities of the school to plant trees around the building to serve as wind breaks, and said he would personally provide school uniforms and books to any child who plants a tree.

In his welcome address, the Assemblyman for the area, Mr John Akaribo, said the community saw education as a key component to development, saying it was based on this that the Nyariga-Doone Mothers Club and the community initiated the project to provide quality education for their children.

In his remarks, the Country Director of the NGO, Mr Alexander Kedje, said the mission of his organisation was to alleviate poverty by providing jobs for the people, especially vulnerable groups. He announced that plans were far advanced for the Nyariga-Doone Junior Secondary School to enter into a twin-school relationship, which would allow both teachers and students to exchange information and ideas with other schools abroad.

He added that his outfit would establish an ICT Resource Centre in the area, to serve the students and the community at large. The Upper East Regional Director of the National Council on Women and Development, Madam Paulina Azupowa, donated books to the school and urged the teachers to ensure that the students cultivate the habit of reading to improve upon their academic performance.