Tamale, Nov. 12, GNA - The Tamale Metropolitan Assembly has this year disbursed a total of GH¢20,200.00 from its share of the District Assembly Common Fund to support the education of some 276 students in the metropolis.

Out of the number, 122 are teacher trainees whiles the remaining 154 are made up of students pursuing tertiary programmes across the country.

The students received financial support ranging from GH¢50 to GH¢200. Alhaji Abdulai Friday Haruna, Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive, told the GNA in an interview that this year's was the highest due to the increasing number of needy students in the Metropolis.

He said the assembly would, from next year, give priority to education to ensure that the facility covered as many needy students as possible to improve education in the region.

Alhaji Friday appealed to the students to preach peace messages in their homes to ensure that Tamale remained violent free to attract investors. He expressed regret that Tamale occupied the 91st and 89th positions= in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) of 2007 and 2008 respectively, which was unacceptable, and that attention would be given t= o education to reverse the trend.