Tamale, Nov. 23, GNA - Alhaji Mustapha Ali Iddris, Northern Regional Minister on Wednesday advised tertiary students to live a disciplined life worth emulating by the younger generation in order to stem rioting and other acts of vandalism in schools.
"Rioting and acts of vandalism are unacceptable, especially in higher institutions of learning such as the universities," he said, adding, "Government has to spend additional funds to maintain or replace property destroyed through such acts."
Alhaji Iddris was speaking at the 10th Anniversary celebration of the Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC), a Christian organisation operating in the Northern Region.
He said universities and other tertiary institutions were places of higher learning and not a place to exhibit indiscipline behaviour that would reverse the clock of progress.
Alhaji Iddris condemned recent acts of vandalism at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), saying, "it is unacceptable for University students to embark on acts of vandalism since they are mature enough to value live and property." He said the only way to solve issues was to pass through the appropriate channels to address grievances and called for measures to bring such perpetrators to book.
Alhaji Iddris also condemned indecent dressing in schools and said school authorities and parents were guilty of such practices and urged them to take stringent measures to address it.
He appealed to teachers in the region to do their best to offer good training to the children to pass the impending West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination and reiterated that government was committed to addressing their problems relating to their conditions of service.
The minister commended the CCFC for assisting to alleviate poverty in the communities and urged others to work with a common purpose to sustain the results.
Mrs Sanatu Nantogmah, Country Director of the CCFC, said the organisation has so far spent five million dollars in programmes geared towards improving livelihoods.
She said a total of 41,370 individuals, including school children, farmers groups and women in its operational areas, benefited from the programmes.
Mrs Nantogmah catalogued the success story of CCFC and said so far, it had supported 8,400 school children in 47 project schools with exercise books, notebooks, storybooks and other learning materials every academic year.
It has also constructed 12 blocks of three classrooms with offices and stores, as well as six-classrooms and offices, a store and library, in addition to the renovation of some schools. She said CCFC had set aside four million dollars to embark on development projects in the next four years.
Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister of Children and Women's Affairs in a speech read for her, assured NGOs of the government's preparedness to work closely with partners who had children's issues at heart and urged the CCFC to do more in its child support programme. Some individuals were awarded for their long service, dedication to work and commitment to the CCFC. 23 Nov. 06
