SISSILA WEST ASSEMBLY HOLDS MEETING (PAGE 20)

Story: George Folley Quaye, Gwolu

THE Sissala West District Assembly in the Upper West Region has held its first ordinary meeting this year at Gwollu.
In an address, the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Salifu Baluwie, said the district was working hard to provide a number of facilities to accommodate the various institutions.
He said the Assembly would collaborate with the Electoral Commission (EC) and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to embark on a vigorous campaign against election violence.
The move, he said, was to foster cordial relations and encourage dialogue among political parties, their leaders and followers to ensure violent-free and successful general election in the district in December, this year.
He stated that 11 communities in the district would soon be connected to the national grid.
Touching on education, the DCE said although there had been an impressive increase in enrolment in schools, the same could not be said of the level of transition from the junior high to the senior high schools.
"One other problem is staffing, which stands in the ratio of 76 pupils to one teacher. This means that as many as 99 more teachers were required to augment the 252 teachers currently at post," Mr Baluwie stressed.
He stated that the Assembly had budgeted an amount of GH¢25,000 to cater for the training of more teachers.
The DCE described the development of education as a major priority for his administration, adding that a greater percentage of the Assembly's budget would be invested in the sector.
Mr Baluwie said as part of measures adopted to boost food production in the district, agricultural officers would move round to provide farmers with certified seeds and other farming inputs to enhance their farming activities.