Kumasi, Sept. 08, GNA 96 There has been an 18 per cent increase in enrolment in basic schools in the Ashanti region following the introduction of the Capitation grant last year.
Mrs Belinda Serwah Addo, Ashanti Regional Director of Education, who disclosed this, said the region recorded 643,000 enrolments in basic schools during the 2004/2005 academic year as against 769,000 recorded this academic year.
She was speaking at the launching of the Annual Meeting of Conference of District Directors of Education (CODDE) in Kumasi on Thursday.
The meeting scheduled for Kumasi between October 15-21 is under the theme, 93Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education in Retrospect=94. Mrs Addo commended government for its commitment to embark on a fee-free educational policy with the introduction of the grant, provision of school uniforms to poor but needy pupils and furniture for schools that had resulted in substantial increase in enrolment in basic schools nation-wide.
This move, she said, was crucial for the accelerated socio-economic development of the nation since such a policy would boost the human resource base of the nation.
Mrs Addo called on stakeholders in education to strive to complement government's efforts to enhance education in the country 'since it will be difficult for the nation to attain a middle-income status by 2015 without the requisite manpower.'
She cautioned parents to be dedicated to investing in their children's education and refrain from engaging them in trade since the practice was an impediment to the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme.
The Ashanti Regional Director of Education was worried that in spite of efforts by government to facilitate education in the country, about 20 per cent of children of school-going age had not been enrolled in schools.
She therefore, called for brainstorming by stakeholders to improve upon the current situation.
