Volta Chiefs Asked to Set Up Education Fund

Mr Godwin Ametorwo, President of the Volta Region Students Association (VORSA) on Saturday appealed to the Volta Regional House of Chiefs to initiate an endowment fund in support of education.

He made the appeal at a forum to mark the end of a month-long voluntary teaching by members of VORSA from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in deprived second-cycle schools in the Region.

Mr Ametorwo urged citizens of the Region, who had benefited from good education to share their gains with their kith and kin, especially in deprived rural schools, who were struggling against all odds to climb up the increasingly competitive education ladder.

He said unless something dramatic was done, the Region would pale out in the area of education because other regions had taken concrete steps to raise their stakes in education and manpower development.

Togbega Nyagasi V on behalf of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs commended the student volunteers for sparing their time and meagre resources to help their deprived compatriots and brighten their chances for higher education.

He observed that their initiative was a novelty especially as many of the citizens of the Region preferred to help develop other people to the neglect of their kith and kin.

Togbega Nyagasi, who is also the Paramount Chief of the Nyagbo Traditional Area, appealed to the students to continue to put their knowledge at the disposal of deprived students and schools in the region.

He pledged the support of the Regional House of Chiefs in their efforts to keep the Region afloat by working to attain high academic standards in the Region.

Mr John C. Kofie, Assistant Director of Education and Regional Science Co-ordinator, acknowledged the sacrifices in the voluntary teaching initiative and expressed the hope that the volunteers would be strengthened by Dr Ephraim Amu's song of patriotism in nation building.

Mr Kofie said the quota of science teachers in the Region was well below what was required.

He lamented that many teachers and graduates from the Region were unwilling to accept teaching appointments but instead preferred to serve in other regions, which offered them better opportunities for success in life. Mr Kofie said some rural schools were also suffering from ethnic differences to the extent that affluent citizens from such areas were unwilling to support them choosing instead to encourage the establishment of rival schools, thereby stretching resources thinly.

He expressed the hope that the volunteers would serve as role models for their colleagues from the region.