September 13, 2011

The Mfantseman West Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Aquinas Tawiah Quansah has set up a committee to probe the cause of the abysmal performance of students in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the area.

The committee is under the chairmanship of Mr Musah Biney, a retired Director of Education.

Eleven schools scored zero per cent in the area, meaning that none of the students who wrote the examination in the schools obtained marks below the cut-off point for selection to a Senior High School (SHS).

He made this known when addressing the closing session of a six-week vacation classes he organised for students from Junior High and SHSs in the Municipality.

More than 2,000 students participated in the classes at the three centres; namely Kwegyir Aggrey SHS at Anomabo, Mfantseman Girls SHS and Mankessim Senior High Technical School.

The MP provided means of transport to convey the students to and from the centres, exercise books, and also paid allowances to the tutors who sacrificed their time to teach the students.

Mr Quansah said the government attach great importance to education in line with its manifesto to invest in the capacity building of the youth.

He said that was the reason why it is putting up school buildings, giving out free exercise books and uniforms and had also increased the Capitation Grant from GH?3.00 to GH?4.50.

Mr Quansah who is a Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development said the committee would find out the causes of the abysmal performance and make recommendations to reverse the situation.

He appealed to parents “to be up and doing,” urging them not to shirk their responsibilities to their children.

“Delivering of quality education is a shared responsibility,” he stressed.

Mr Quansah presented a laptop computer each to Ms Faustina Nkansah of Kwegyir Aggrey SHS and Master De Graft Johnson, a student of Ghana Secondary Technical School for excelling in end-of-classes examination.

He pledged to offer scholarship to Paul Biney, a physically challenged student of Mankessim Senior High Technical School to pursue his education to the level his ability could carry him.