Winneba (C/R) Sept. 25 GNA - Mr. James Kofi Annan, an employee of the Barclays Bank in Accra on Saturday offered 17 million cedis as scholarship

to 29 needy but brilliant children in Sankore, near Winneba. The scholarship ranging between 300,000 cedis and 3 million cedis would cover fees, learning and reading materials, uniforms and other needy items by the beneficiaries from the basic to the SSS level and Vocational Institutions.

Presenting letters of accept ance to the beneficial students at a ceremony at Sankore, Mr. Annan expressed regret that most children in the area are sometime found loitering around due to their inability to obtain minor materials, including writing books, pencil and pen needed in schools.

Mr. Annan has for the past five years been using 60 per cent of his monthly salary to cater for the education and health need of some needy children at Sankore.

Sankore is fishing and farming community with high poverty rate where most of the children are out of school. Mr. Annan, who is also the Executive director and founder of the newly inaugurated Challenging Heights, an NGO appealed to Parliament to pass a law making it an offence for an educated person not to educate his children.

He said educated persons knew how important role education would play in the development of a nation and therefore, needed to be punished when he refuses to educate his children.

He called for strict supervision of schools to enable them to perform creditably and turn out good quality children for the nation. The District Chief Executive for Awutu-Effutu-Senya, Mr. Solomon Kwashie Abban-Quaye, who inaugurated the NGO, commended the founder for his assistance being offered to most children in the area to acquire education.

He said the assembly would continue to spend greater portion of its common fund on education because it is key to development and urged the people to take advantage of the capitation grant to enroll their children in school.

The Chief of Sankore, Neenyi Kwadwo Tetteh, who chaired the occasion gave the assurance that the elders of the town would give the necessary support and assistance to the NGO to fulfil its aims and objectives.