Drobo, Sept. 1, GNA - Beyeeman Bosea Gyinantwi IV, Omanhene of the Drobo Traditional Area in the Brong Ahafo Region, has launched an education fund to help brilliant but needy students in the Jaman South and North Districts.

The event, which formed part of the launch of the 30th anniversary of his enstoolment and the annual Munufie Kese Festival, scheduled to take start from November 21 to 27 this year, was under the theme: 93The Role of Traditional Authorities in Promoting Quality Education and Healthy Development". Addressing the chiefs and people at a well- attended ceremony at Drobo= , the Jaman South District capital, Beyeeman Bosea Gyinantwi underscored the importance of education in national development. He recalled that at the time of his enstoolment, some 30 years ago, on August 14, 1981, educational infrastructure in the area had totally collapsed and primary schools were almost empty while the Drobo Senior High School was nothing to write home about. "We had virtually nothing but dilapidated classroom blocks," he sa= id, adding that, to solve the root cause of the problem, education had to be improved.

"Today, we are, however, happy to see new and refurbished classrooms and teachers' bungalows; the Drobo Community Library and the upgrading of the Drobo secondary school to a Grade 91A' school are the new additions. "As a result, there has been marked improvement as indicated by the results in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) over the years."

Beyeeman Bosea Gyinantwi paid tribute to the various governments for providing the area with educational facilities as well as former district directors of education, teaching and non-teaching staff for their commitment, and expressed the hope that they would improve the standards they had set for themselves. These achievements, he said, informed the decision of the traditional authorities to institute the Beyeeman Education Fund. Beyeeman Bosea Gyinantwi expressed his gratitude to Droboman for cooperating with him to take hard decisions to enable them to achieve some concrete results, such as the construction of the Drobo House in Sunyani, Post Office, Adinkra Kospore Market, Community Bank, Krupiase Palace, and the Community Library, all at Drobo.

Beyeeman Bosea Gyinantwi also recalled that at the time he mounted the stool, there was no church in the area and so initiated the establishment o= f the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church at Drobo. Today, he said there were more than 40 branches of various churches at Drobo, and commended them for helping to instill discipline and the fear of God in the citizens.

The Very reverend Dr. Yaw Frimpong-Manso, former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, who was the Special Guest of Honour, commende= d Beyeeman Bosea Gyinatwi for his vision and foresight in modern nation building and for choosing the theme for the occasion. "It is a well known fact that education is the bedrock of healthy national development. It is also a fact that, in Ghana, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) has been a pathfinder in sound education delivery. He noted that in the pursuit of this heritage of the PCG, Nananom all over the country had collaborated with the church by providing land and support in several forms. Traditional authority, he acknowledged, played a major role, like the churches and government, in promoting quality education for healthy development.

Rev Dr. Frimpong-Manso and his wife donated GHc1,000 towards the Education Fund, as part of the seed money to be raised for education delivery in the Drobo State, to help the brilliant but needy pupils. An amount of more than GH¢14,000 was realized at a special appeal fo= r funds launched towards the inception of the Beyeeman Education Fund. Speaking later to the GNA, Beyeeman Gyinatwi said plans were under way to set up a body of administrators to administer the fund.