Education fund launched at Nkontonpo

Nkontonpo (W/R), July 13, GNA - A hundred million-cedi education fund to provide infrastructure and other facilities to enhance teaching and leaning at the Nkotonpo Kow-Nketfia Primary and Junior secondary Schools was launched at Nkontonpo near Sekondi, on Saturday.

Part of the fund would be used to support brilliant but needy pupils and students to pursue higher education and to motivate teachers. Mr. Joseph Nketfia, a Tema based business executive on behalf of the family of Kow-Nketfia founder for the schools presented 20 million cedis as seed money for the fund, known as the Kow-Nketfia Fund with a five-member board of trustees.

Launching it, Mr. Philip Kwesi Nkrumah, Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Chief Executive, mentioned some of the efforts being made by the government to provide quality education for the people and urged individuals, private institutions and religious organisations to contribute their quota.

He said the Metropolitan Assembly would soon launch a one billion-cedi Education Endowment Fund to reverse the poor standard of education. Under the fund, teachers would be given incentives to motivate them because previous measures to improve education standards, which did not include that essential component, resulted in failure. Mr. Nkrumah commended the Kow-Nketfia family for the initiative, the first in the metropolis and advised parents to avoid ostentatious life styles and to channel their resources to the education of their children.

He appealed to the people to help check sand winning along the beaches to avoid the destruction of buildings by the sea. The government had already spent two billion cedis to construct a sea defence wall at Nkontonpo but continued sand winning along the beach had aggravated the situation, he said adding that, further extension of the wall at an estimated cost of eight billion cedis had been planned. Mr. Francis Arthur, Sekondi Constituency Chairman of the NPP, on behalf of Papa Owusu Ankoma, MP for the area, said the government was working hard ensure quality education in the country.