Begoro, Sept. 2, GNA - Participants at a day's educational forum on Ghana Accountability Improves Trust(GAIT) have urged parents to take the education of their wards important.

They complained that despite the educational awareness programmes of GAIT, most parents in the Fanteakwa District, still do not realize the importance of education and refuse to provide their wards with common educational needs like pens and pencils.

This came to light at a forum organized for beneficiary communities of the GAIT project in the Fanteakwa District at Begoro on Thursday. Participants were drawn from all the 28 GAIT II supported school communities to take stock of their achievements and challenges and plan for the way forward.

Addressing the participants, Mr Julius Azumah, Fanteakwa District co-ordinator of the project, said since last year, GAIT II has provided over GH=A29,800 (98 million cedis) as micro-grant facilities to the beneficiary communities .

He said each beneficiary community, received GH=A2 350 (3.5 million cedis) towards the provision of teaching and learning materials in their schools.

Mr Azumah said GAIT would continue to hold community sensitization programmes besides the provision of micro-grants facilities to communities, but not to construct school buildings as people perceived. He expressed concern at the indifference of some parents towards the education of their wards and commended the Fanteakwa District Assembly and the District Directorate of Education for supporting the GAIT project to materialize.

The Fanteakwa District Director of Education, Ms Mary Animwah, said the capitation grant had prevented head teachers from collecting extra money from pupils and urged Parent/Teacher's Associations(PTA's) to find means of collecting levies on their own rather than entrusting it into the hands of head teachers. Mr Animwah warned that head teachers caught collecting levies for PTA's or money from pupils would be sanctioned.