Collective efforts needed to tackle drug abuse – Dr Apaak

Dr Clement Apaak, the Member of Parliament for Builsa South Constituency in the Upper East Region has advocated collective efforts to tackle the menace of drug abuse to save the youth.

The MP observed that the abuse of drugs, particularly, tramadol, was on the rise among the youth and added that, when pragmatic measures are not taken to deal with the canker, it could have serious consequences on the health and future of the youth.

Dr Apaak made the observation at the Builsa South District General Assembly Meeting held at Fumbisi to review the performance of the Assembly last year.

The meeting brought together Mr Daniel Kwame Gariba, the District Chief Executive, Assembly Members of the various electoral areas and heads of departments.

The MP said the phenomenon was taking a national trend and was destroying the youth, adding that, the high indiscipline among the youth, poor academic performance and high teenage pregnancies among others, being recorded in recent times, was due to the constant abuse of drugs by the youth.

The Former Chief of Staff said increased and sustained education and implementation of stringent measures were key to tackling the problem and called on all stakeholders to play active roles to address the menace.

He also called on stakeholders in the Builsa South District to contribute significantly to address the challenges facing the educational sector in the district and increase pupils and students performance, especially at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) level.

He identified inadequate furniture and lack of computers as major a hindrance to effective teaching and learning in the various schools, especially at the basic schools.

Whilst promising to channel the annual MP social intervention Fund and solicit external assistance to address some of the challenges, the MP appealed to other stakeholders to support to improve education in the area.

Mr Gariba, who briefed the Assembly Members on government policies being undertaken in the district, explained that, the performance of the pupils at the BECE was not the best, indicating that, the district recorded 61.1 per cent and 80.5 per cent failure in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

He said as part of measures to tackle the problem, the Assembly had constructed a three unit classroom block each at Nyambisa, Chansa-Pendem, Batuisa and a Girls' Model School at Fumbisi, as well as the rehabilitated Fumbisi Preparatory School at Fumbisi.

He said the Assembly has further developed an incentive package to award best performing teachers and pupils in a bid to motivate the teachers to increase their output while encouraging the pupils to take their studies seriously.

“Let me urge the District Education Directorate, parents and chiefs to play effective collaborative roles by monitoring the work of teachers and wards at the schools,” he added.