Mr. Moses Dramani Luri, Sissala West District Chief Executive, has urged the various Sissala student unions in tertiary institutions to jointly organize free vacation classes to help those at the junior levels improve their academic performances.

He expressed sadness that only eighteen (18%) per cent of candidates who sat for the 2010/11 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region qualified for admission into Senior High Schools (SHS) out of a general pass rate of 28%.

He was speaking at a meeting with the Tumu College of Education (TUTCO) Sissala Students’ Union at Tumu, in the Sissala East District.

He advised the students to hold meetings to take a collective decision on what kind of assistance they would require and notify the Assembly as soon as possible.

The DCE also appealed to the students to eschew violence in this election year and rather be ambassadors of peace to help make election 2012 a very peaceful.

He said the lack of adequate teachers in the District was a major contributory factor to the poor performance of students at the basic school level, adding that, the free vacation classes could help reverse the situation.

The DCE said the Government recognized the right of every child and young person to access quality education to enable him or her to earn a decent living and contribute to building a prosperous Ghana.

He said this explained why the Government was investing so much in expanding the infrastructure of already existing schools and opening new ones at the basic, second cycle and tertiary levels to improve on quality and accessibility.

He noted that, while teachers were already enjoying the Single Spine Salary, the Government was still working seriously to implement 20% additional allowance of basic salary for teachers in deprived areas, and another 10% for technical/vocational teachers.

Specialist teachers in Science and Mathematics would also receive three incremental jumps at the point of entry, he added.

Mr. Luri said the District Assembly teacher trainees’ sponsorship package would also receive a new boost.**