January 6, 2012

Mr Daniel Kwaku Botwe, Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere, has pledged to allocate a sizeable portion of his resources into education to improve Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in his constituency.

He indicated that more of the money would be used to pay teachers to organise extra classes for third-year pupils in Junior High Schools (JHS), in the area.

Mr Botwe noted that the measure was to relieve parents of financial burden and to ensure that none of the schools in the constituency score zero per cent in this year’s BECE.

He made this known to the Ghana News Agency at Adukrom when he opened a week-long vacation classes for the 2012 BECE candidates in the constituency on Thursday.

The MP expressed worry about poor performance in the BECE in the constituency and the Akuapem area in general.

He attributed that situation to lack of proper preparation towards the examination by the candidates and their teachers.

Mr Botwe appealed to parents, traditional authorities and other stakeholders in education to assist him to achieve his objective.

 About 800 school children who registered for the examination this year were taking part in the exercise aimed at preparing them for the BECE scheduled for April, this year.

Mr Botwe said last year, a similar exercise he organized for the candidates posted positive results hence his motivation to organize another class this year.

He appealed to parents to consider the education of their children as one of the best investments in life and support them to greater heights.

Mr Botwe said only one school in the constituency scored zero per cent at the 2011 BECE as against five schools in 2008.

“I am even prepared to buy lunch for the pupils if necessary, to ensure that they stayed on after school hours to participate in the extra classes.”

Mr Botwe said as a long-term measure, he had planned to motivate eminent citizens from the constituency to adopt schools and visit them frequently to encourage the pupils to learn hard.

The MP said he would establish an education fund with the support of the people to sponsor brilliant but needy children to continue their education after the BECE.

GNA