17 South Tongu students honoured by MP
Seventeen students who excelled in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the South Tongu District, from 2012 to 2015, were awarded cash prizes by the Member of Parliament for the area, Mr Kobla Mensah Woyome, on Saturday.
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The cash prizes ranged from GH¢60 to GHC 1500.
Four of the educational institutions attended by the award winners were also given certificates of recognition and trophies.
The award scheme was instituted by the MP to encourage learning and to halt the decline in education in the area.
In a speech, Mr Woyome said he would expand the scope of the awards to include the teachers and traditional leaders in the communities in which the students perform well.
He said he also intended to institute a form of recognition for the parents of brilliant students. "The agenda is to re-awaken and conscientise key stakeholders about their role in providing quality education," he said.
Quality education
Mr Woyome said all residents in the district had a role to play in ensuring quality education. "As school administrators and teachers, you take responsibility when you put into place the appropriate teaching and learning practices so that all children can learn to high standards.
“As members of the business community, you take responsibility when you provide schools with resources, internship opportunities and role model.
“As chiefs and leaders of our communities, you take responsibility when you, provide the needed land for schools development and join with schools to ensure that parents take good care of their children," he added.
Interventions
Mr Woyome noted that he had, between 2012 and 2015 expended about GH¢300,000 to promote effective teaching and learning in the area. Part of the amount, he said, had been used for the provision of infrastructure, registration of candidates for examinations, procurement of computers to schools, provision of exercise books as well as library materials and the procurement of motorbikes, among other things.
Landmark
The District Director of Education for South Tongu, Ms Angelica Attakey, described the ceremony as a landmark in the history of education in the district.
She said the abysmal performance of school children in the area had been a matter of concern to the authorities in the area for many years.
The institution of the excellence awards, he said, would therefore help halt the decline in academic work and spur the children on to study hard.
