Pupils attending funerals as pastime must stop -DCE

Mr James Gunu, Akatsi North District Chief Executive (DCE) has expressed dissatisfaction, at the tendency among children to attend funerals as pastime and called on parents and community leaders to help stop the practice.

Mr Gunu was inaugurating a three-room classroom block, with an office and a store, costing $130,000, constructed by Pencils of Promise, a US NGO, at Ave-Atanve, in the Volta Region.

The District Assembly footed the 20 per cent community commitment component.

Mr Gunu said the loitering of kids at funeral grounds is working against numerous efforts by government and at great cost to improve standards at the basic education level.

The DCE said improvement in Basic Education Certificate Examination standards in the district from 18 per cent in 2013 to 38 per cent in 2014, through deliberate toils by stakeholders, should not be allowed to deteriorate.

He commended the NGO, for the project and said the Assembly would continue to support agents of development.

The NGO had refurbished a hall into classrooms for the school at a cost of $ 60,000.

Mr Gunu said as part of the project, the community has benefited from a mechanised water project connecting all homes.

Mr Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, Member of Parliament, who also supported the community component of the project, noted that with collaboration, a lot could be achieved to improve standards.

Mr Freeman Gobah, the NGO’s Ghana Director expressed wonder why parents would find money to buy expensive mourning clothes but decline to buy pencils and erasers for their children.

He observed that some parents no longer provide breakfast for their school going kids because of the national school feeding programme.