Manso-Nkwanta (Ash), Nov. 24, GNA - The Government has between 2001 and 2004 spent a total of 7.9 billion cedis on the construction of 55 schools in the Amansie West district of Ashanti.

Mr Ben Kwakye-Adeefe, the District Chief Executive who disclosed this, said funding for the construction of the schools came from the district assemblies common fund, HIPC funds, the African Development Bank, USAID/Quality Improvement in Primary Schools (QUIPS), and the Social Investment Fund (SIF).

Other areas of funding were the World Bank, Partnership With Traditional Authorities and locally generated funds especially from royalties.

Speaking at the distribution of 24,000 exercise books to 5,176 junior secondary schools students and 1,030 students of the Mansoman, Adubia and Esaase senior secondary schools at Manso-Nkwanta on Wednesday, Mr Kwakye-Adeefe said the assembly had also built and furnished a three-room model JSS complex. The complex, he said, is to serve as a basis to improve upon the standard of education in the district and indications were that the school which was in its second year will prove successful. The DCE said the construction of six teachers' quarters had been awarded on contract out of which two had been completed. Mr Kwakye-Adeefe said to improve upon teaching and learning, the assembly had distributed 9,927 dual desks valued at 1.3 billion cedis to various schools in the district.

The assembly, he said, was sponsoring 84 teacher trainees, some of whom were already serving in the district as a measure to attract and retain teachers in the district to improve upon teaching and learning and that so far, 6.5 million cedis has been spent on the students. The DCE said items including school uniforms, books, bags, pens, pencils and others worth about 111 million cedis had been distributed among 1,137 primary and JSS pupils.

He said the assembly made a special presentation of 83 uniforms to 83 pupils and scholarships worth three million cedis for pupils at Omandwareye, Adukumana and Essuowin covering 30 pupils while the assembly had also released 30 million cedis to senior secondary schools in the district to maintain their vehicles.