'Problem of school fees is now a thing of the past' - Sirigu Chief hails free education

Correspondence from Upper East

Paramount Chief of Sirigu in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region, Naba Roland Akwara Atogumdeya III, has heaped praises on government's Free Senior High School policy which he said has enormously benefitted his people.

Naba Atogumdeya said aside the easy access to secondary school education the policy has offered his people, it has also eliminated the challenges parents went through raising money to pay fees of their wards.

Naba Atogumdeya, who was addressing a gathering during Vice President Alhaji Dr. Muhamudu Bawumia's visit to his Palace, continued that the rolling out of the policy has thus made "the challenges a thing of the pass", thereby enabling them to channel their resources into other profitable ventures.

The Chief said - "I and my people will be ungrateful to you and your government if I fail to recognize the good policies of your government that has brought about transformation in the lives of many. The free senior high school policy has brought about a lot of relief to parents in my traditional area. In the past, many parents in my traditional area who normally have to prioritize among their children who should proceed to the senior high school level. Mostly, senior high school education opportunities were always denied them when parents could not afford the fees for all children. But that is now a thing of the past and we are grateful to you and the President for this good initiative".

Naba Atogumdeya, touching on government's Planting for Food And Jobs, said food production in the area has witnessed tremendous increase thanks to the efforts and resources government has injected into the policy.

He said the area has been secured against hunger considering the abundance of food and the youth have also been encouraged to take chances in the Agriculture to better their lives instead of migrating Southwards in search of non-available jobs.

"Your Excellency, the planting for food and jobs policy introduced by your government has also increased food sufficiency in my traditional area, as many people especially the youth have now engaged in farming. This is unusual and has helped to reduce migration to the south"

Developmental challenges

Naba Akwara Atogumdeya used the visit of the Vice President to put before government the numerous challenges his traditional area faced.

He, first of all, mentioned the deplorable nature of roads in the area and especially within Sirigu, despite Sirigu being a Cash Cow for the District.

Naba said roads such as the Bolgatanga - Nyariga - Sirigu and Kandiga - Sirigu stretches, are particularly bad during the raining season which seriously affects business activities. The bad roads, he added, also cause accidents which continue to take precious lives of his people.

This, among other challenges such as improvement of the Sirigu market, improved ambulance service, the completion of a library for the community and the creation of a separate district for the Eastern part of area, are what the Chief put before the Vice President, appealing to government to take serious steps to address.

He added that life will become better for his people when these issues are addressed.