The inauguration of a Catholic Primary School Block complex at Shia in the Ho-Municipal Area on Friday, created a platform for the appraisal of educational performance in the Volta Region.

Education administrators expressed dissatisfaction about the situation, which according to them though had been a trend, was exacerbated by the 2011 Basic Examination Certificate Examination (BECE) results.

Mr Maxwell Gbaka, Deputy Director of Education, responsible for Administration and Finance at the Volta Regional Directorate of the Ghana Education Service, said the regional average of 38 per cent pass of the 2011 BECE examination, has necessitated a call “for all hands to be on the deck to reverse the trend”.

He said the Volta, was previously among the best performing Regions in the country but now it has dropped and this was a challenge to education administrators and teachers.

Mr Emmanuel Keteku, Ho Municipal Director of Education, appealed to teachers to work harder to produce better results to justify the massive investment the nation was making in education.

He said a stakeholder’s conference would be organized to discuss how to improve the educational situation in the Region.

Most Reverend Francis Anani Lodonu, Bishop of the Ho Diocese of the Catholic Church, who consecrated the Ghc 156,000.00-block, expressed worry that basic schools in the Region were performing badly even though the area had trained and good teachers.

The Bishop observed that the current description of rural schools as deprived schools was intriguing, since many years ago “the best advantaged schools were filled by boys and girls from the so-called deprived schools”.

He, however, said that some people were not committed to their work “Thus making our educational system quite complex and incapable of driving home discipline, excellence in education and personal development needs, especially in the rural communities”.

Most Rev. Lodonu said collaboration of the Ho Diocese of the Catholic Church and Manos Unidas had resulted in the building of 30 school blocks for kindergartens Junior High Schools, adding that the Diocese had initiated interventions to alleviate poverty in the area.

Manos Unidas-a Spanish, a non-profit making organization, provided funds for the building of complex, which had six classrooms with 90 dual desks, an office, store, library, computer laboratory, staff common room, all furnished, and eight water-closet toilets.

Mr Raphael Kwashie, Volta Regional Manager of Catholic Schools, said the Catholic Church has complemented government’s efforts at promoting education in the country.

Togbe Dadzawa III, Paramount Chief of Shia, promised that the community would maintain the block and praised the contractor, Pamstar Constructing Company, for doing a good work.

He expressed worry that candidates of the Shia Roman Catholic Junior High School scored 38.5 per cent in this year’s BECE examination, and called on the people to help raise the educational standards of the area.