Celebration of the Best Teacher Awards would remain on hold in the Akatsi-North District of the Volta Region until results of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) improve.

Mr. James Gunu, the District Chief Executive, told an Ordinary Meeting of the Assembly at Ave-Dakpa that abysmal performances such as the 17.4 per cent last year did not justify the event.

He said the event would resume if the area gained 50% or more pass in the BECE and appealed to education stakeholders to double their efforts for a turnaround in the district.

Mr Gunu said the Assembly could no longer grant scholarships to tertiary students due to poor finances but would back them to access the Student Loan Trust Fund (SLTF).

He said “Pencil of Promise”, an NGO, would construct three-unit classroom blocks in 15 communities and that beneficiary communities would bear 20% of the cost in kind.

The DCE said 75 boreholes were being sunk by “Life Time Wells,” a drilling company, in collaboration with the Assembly which paid only for the geological surveys and the platforms.

He said the 24-acre farm the Assembly was undertaking with local farmer groups under a yields-sharing agreement to boost commercial farming was about maturing. Mr. Gunu condemned the reckless sand winning in the area and said it was destroying farm lands.

He said a Skills Development Center was to open at Afiadenyigba to train young people in employable skills, beginning with tailoring and dressmaking.

Mr Gunu said the two-storey 40-room shopping center under construction would give a big facelift to the Dakpa market and also all was set for the inauguration of the District Magistrate court at Dakpa to bring justice and peace closer to the people.

The Assembly, he said, had qualified for the Ghana Social Opportunity Project (GSOP) worth GH¢ 541, 042, to construct roads and plant trees. He said the district was among the best revenue performing ones among the 25 districts in the region.