Gomoa Simbrofo (C/R), July 2, GNA - The Member of Parliament (MP) for Gomoa West, Mr Francis Kojo Arthur and the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Theophilus Aidoo-Mensah, on Wednesday distributed exercise books and uniforms to children in four communities in the Gomoa West District. The beneficiary communities were Hwida, Gomoa Maim, Fawomanye and Simbrofo.

The books and the uniforms were donations from the government to promote education nationwide. At separate forums in the communities, Mr Arthur advised parents to invest in the education of their children to secure a better future for the children and the parents themselves. He said the best legacy parents could bequeath to their children was education since the lands were becoming barren and the marine resources were getting depleted. Mr Arthur advised the children to be thankful to President John Evans Atta Mills for his kind gesture, adding that the best gratitude they could show to the government was to study hard and pass their final examinations with distinction.

Mr Aidoo-Mensah expressed concern about the behaviour of some parents who were taking undue advantage of government interventions to shirk their parental responsibilities. "Parents dispatch their children to school without feeding them and hope that they will be fed at school," the DCE noted, and added that schools which enjoyed the School Feeding Programme took their meals around 11.30 am to 12.00 noon.

The DCE pointed out that the poverty level in Gomoa, and for that matter the country, could only be alleviated through education and advised parents to take very good care of their children. He cautioned teachers who went to school just to while away time and those who used children for their private work to stop the habit. Mr Aidoo-Mensah informed the gatherings he was working hard to get more schools in the District to be included in the School Feeding Programme. The School Prefects who received the items on behalf of their schools gave the assurance that they would study hard to prevent the scoring of zero per cent in the Basic Education Certificate Examination in the District. 02 July 10