Wa, May 21, GNA - The Chairman of the Northern Zone Sports Federation of Teacher Training Colleges, Mr. Luke Abugri, on Tuesday said that the Federation needed adequate funding to enable it organise sporting activities effectively to unearth talents for the country. Mr Abugri said running sports was an expensive business but the end result ensures it helps to bring about unity and honour to the country and must not be left to be in ruins due to inadequate funding. The Chairman was addressing the 8th Northern Teacher Training Colleges Sports Festival held at the Nusrat Jahan Ahmadiyya Muslim Teacher Training College in Wa in the Upper West Region. Mr Abugri said students need motivation to compete favourably to bring laurels to the nation, pointing out that anything short of that would only result in poor performance and disappointments. The Bagabaga, Bimbilla, St. John Bosco, Gbewaa, Nusrat Jahan, Tamale and Tumu Training Colleges forming the Northern Zone would be competing in soccer, volleyball, netball and athletics among others during the one-week festival.

The Festival would offer the authorities the opportunity to select a formidable team to represent the Zone at the National Teacher Training Colleges Sports Festival to be hosted in Tamale.

Madam Winifred Dy-Yakah, Deputy Upper West Regional Minister who opened the festival, said Sports Festival involving would-be teachers should be viewed as a special assignment since the products were those who would help shape human material and destiny of the society. She urged the public to show recognition and acknowledgement for the role teachers play at all times.

Madam Dy-Yakah said there was the need for the society to recognise that the grooming of children to become useful citizens was a shared responsibility between teachers and parents. She reminded teachers of the new educational reforms and said it was aimed to improving the human resource base of the country and urged teachers to take centre stage in the implementation process of the reforms

The Deputy Minister said it was for that reason that government has invested in the provision of infrastructure for Colleges and also upgrading them into diploma awarding institutions. Madam Dy-Yakah said government has also recognised the aspect of remuneration of teachers as a critical issue and was working hard to improve the salaries and working conditions of teachers to motivate them to put in their best.

"It is important for all workers to recognise that it would have been simple for government to just announce salary increment to any level but that will not be in the best interest of the nation because the resources to match salary increments are not easy to come by", she advised.

Madam Dy-Yakah reminded workers that mere salary increments without increase in productivity would only bring about high-level inflation that would deflate all the increments made. "Let us bear with government in these trying moments so that we can build a good future for the country," she cautioned. In the opening football march, Nusrat Jahan Training College beat Bagabaga Training College, Tamale by a lone goal. 21 May 08