Accra, March 3 GNA - Mrs. Elizabeth Ocloo, Dangme West District Director of Education on Wednesday disclosed that some basic schools in the district have been closed down as a result of low enrolment. She said the problem has arisen because most parents in those communities prefer sending their children on fishing expeditions, cracking stones and excorting cattle for grazing, rather than being in school.

Mrs. Ocloo made this remark at a training workshop on School Budget Tracking and Monitoring (SBTM) organized by Co-operative League of the United States of America (CLUSA), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)at Dawhenya in the Greater-Accra Region.

The day's workshop, which was the collaborative effort between CLUSA and the Pan-African Organization for Sustainable Development (POSDEV), was aimed at equipping Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA's) and School Management Committees (SMC's) with the right skills. Mrs. Ocloo called on parents in the district to make the education of their wards their number one priority, since it was the foundation of any nation.

She said there has been improvement in the district's infrastructure at both the primary and the Junior Secondary School levels.

She urged the various communities in the district to provide teachers posted to the area with suitable accommodation, to enable them to stay and serve the people.

Mr. Daniel Alimo, Government Accountability Improves Trust (GAIT) Facilitator said the programme was to help participants to learn and understand educational budgets.

He said the course also sought to teach stakeholders the necessary skills for utilizing funds from the national to the local school level. Participants at the workshop were drawn from the Dawhenya and the Ningo Prampram Advocacy Group.