By Philip Tengzu, GNA
Birfoh, (UW/R), Jan. 04, GNA – Mr Bede Ziedeng, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lawra Constituency, has donated five brand new sewing machines to the Birfoh Technical Institute to support practical teaching and learning in the school.
The donation followed a request by the school’s management for equipment to enhance practical training, which formed the foundation of technical institutions.
Presenting the items at Birfoh, Mr Ziedeng said the gesture formed part of his long-standing commitment to improving education and developing human capital in the Lawra Municipality through support for technical and vocational education and training.
He reiterated President John Mahama’s agenda to provide technical and vocational skills training to the youth through interventions, such as the National Apprenticeship Programme.
Mr Ziedeng assured the school’s management of his continued support to help reduce its current constraints to enable it contribute to achieving the government’s agenda.
“I don’t want to come and make empty promises, but the assurance I can give you is that this will not be the last presentation I am making to this school.
I will continue to support this school so that it can produce highly skilled human resources for the Municipality, the Upper West Region and Ghana as a whole”, the MP explained.
The MP had also been providing financial support to candidates of that school to enable them write the West Africa Senior Schools Examination in Nandom because the school was not a WASSCE centre.
He gave the assurance of supporting the school with a desktop computer and a printer to facilitate the administrative running of the school, including printing of examination questions and official documents internally.
The day-school status of the school, coupled with the lack of feeding, had adversely affected enrollment, which had been a serious concern to the school’s management and other stakeholders.
The MP said he was engaging the Ghana Education Service to enable the school benefit from the one hot meal policy and subsequent introduction of full boarding feeding arrangements.
Mr Ziedeng, however, explained that until the process was regularised, he would continue to support the school to ensure the students received at least one hot meal a day to prevent further decline in enrolment.
Mr Augustine Banyonu, the Vice Principal for Administration at the Birfoh Technical Institute, said the school was upgraded to a technical institute three years ago and currently has approval to run programmes in Wood Construction Technology, Fashion and Design Technology, and Information Technology (IT).
However, he said the IT programme could not be run in the school due to a lack of classroom space and furniture.
He indicated that out of 124 students who were placed in the school this academic year, only eleven reported partly due to the lack of feeding for students at the school and other challenges.
Mr Banyonu expressed gratitude to the MP for his continuous support to the school, particularly in assisting students to travel to Nandom for their examinations.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/George-Ramsey Benamba