WA, Nov 01, GNA- A Coalition aimed at providing a collective voice in championing the cause of quality basic education in deprived communities in the Wa Municipality in the Upper West Region was launched on Saturday at Wa. The Coalition known as the Wa Municipal Parent-Teacher Association/School Management Committee (PTA/SMC) seeks to create an avenue through which the challenges that impede the development and delivery of quality basic education could be communicated and solutions sought and implemented.

Miss Ruby Yap, the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) Community Advocacy Support Officer, said the programme which was initiated by VSO in collaboration with the Wa Municipal Education Directorate of Education was the first of its kind in northern Ghana. Mr. Ubald Sabogu, VSO Ghana Education Programme Officer, said available statistics indicated that about 29 per cent of adults in the three northern regions were illiterates while only 9 percent of children reaching primary five and six could read and understand adding, all these were setbacks that impeded development.

Mr. Sabogu commended the Wa Municipality for being the first to implement such an important programme.

Mr. Eric Duorinaah, VSO Project Coordinator at Bolgatanga, said the group was running a programme known as Tackling Education Needs Inclusively (TENI) in the Jirapa, Tongo and Walewale Districts. He said the programme which would run for ten years, would focus particularly on girl child education adding, the biggest goal of the programme is to ensure that by the end of the ten year period, about 80 percent of children in the three northern regions would have had quality education.

Mr. Duogu Yakubu, Wa Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said it was the government's desire to improve the standard of education in the Municipality and therefore, any initiative that was designed to ensure that quality education was attained in the Municipality and the region at large was welcomed.

The MCE explained that the success of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) depended largely on the support and cooperation of parents, guardians and teachers.

"Indeed, we can together realize the dream of the FCUBE if organised groups such as this would partner government to remove all obstacles in the course of implementation of the policy", he said. He called on the coalition to partner the assembly and Ghana Education Service to fight child labour and child-trafficking which have the potential to undermine their efforts at making basic education affordable. The MCE however, cautioned that much as government appreciated the interventions from PTAs and SMCs, any attempt to impose any fee or cost that would be a burden on parents would not be allowed. 01 Nov. 09