Tongo (UE), May 16, GNA - Mr Charles Tsegah, Deputy Director General of Education, has emphasized that government was doing everything possible to bridge the educational gap between the three northern regions and the southern sector.

He said government through the Ghana Education Directorate was strengthening all the district directorates of education with capacity building and adequate manpower to address the problems confronting education in the northern parts of the country.

Mr Tsegah said this during an education conference organized by educational think-tanks made up of non governmental organisations like Tackling Education Needs Inclusively (TENI), Link Community Development, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) and the Ghana Education Service held at Tongo in the Upper East Region.

The Education Conference, sponsored by Comic Relief, a charity based in the United Kingdom, is aimed at improving transition, completion and quality of basic education for disadvantaged children particularly girls from the three northern regions.

He commended the NGOs for complementing government efforts in education delivery particularly in the northern parts of the country and urged other NGOs to also contribute towards improvement of the sector.

Mrs Lucy Awuni, Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, said government had instituted a number of interventions including the provision of school uniforms, text books and classroom structures for schools under trees.

Mr Yakubu Bashiru, TENI Coordinator, stated that the TENI project being implemented in three of the poorest districts in northern Ghana was targeting 48,979 children of which 23,449 would be girls.

He expressed optimism that the project would help address some of the major challenges facing education in the northern regions and appealed to parents and teachers to take their role in their children's education seriously.