Nkoranza MPs assist the needy

Nkoranza (B/A), May 16, GNA - The two Members of Parliament in Nkoranza in Brong Ahafo have donated six million cedis in support of the education of needy students in the area.

Mr. Kwame Ampofo-Twumasi and Mr. Eric Amoateng, MPs for Nkoranza South and North respectively, made the donation to the Nkoranza district directorate of education at the launch of the Brong Ahafo regional celebration of the global action week on education at Nkoranza. The week was organized by the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition under the theme: "Educate to end poverty".


Mr. Ampofo-Twumasi, also Deputy Minister of Education and Sports, challenged the people to take education seriously and enrol their children in schools and support them to sustain their interest in education.


He said the government was concerned with the promotion of education, announcing that about 40 per cent of the country's total budgetary allocation went into education.


Mr. Ampofo-Twumasi announced that Parliament had prescribed punishment for parents who deny their children access to education under a new education bill, because child neglect has an adverse effect on national development.

He appealed to teachers in Nkoranza to give of their best to help lift the fallen standard of education in the district. Mr. Afena Sam, Brong Ahafo Regional Coordinator of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition, said the best weapon against poverty was education, adding that the education of girls was the most significant as women were viable nation builders.


He appealed to parents to encourage their children to aspire to reach greater heights in education and advised students to be law-abiding, respectful and obedient to their parents and teachers. Mr. Kwabena Agyeman-Badu, District Director of Education, called on parents to co-operate with teachers in the education of their children. Okatakyie Agyeman Kudom 1V, Omanhene of Nkoranza Traditional Area, advised parents to invest in the education of their children and to ensure that they did not indulge in unproductive social activities that could have an adverse effect on their education.


About 300 school children had earlier in the day paraded through the principal streets of Nkoranza carrying placards, some of which read: "The President was one time like me", "Educate Parents to send my friends to school", I wish to become a nurse, so send me to school, daddy and mummy" and "Send the girl child to school to avoid teenage pregnancies". 16 May 05