News Categories: Education

The Talensi District Chief Executive (DCE), John Millim Nabwomya, and the Member of Parliament for the Talensi Constituency, Daniel Dung Mahama, have handed over a four-unit classroom block to Tongo Senior High Technical School in the Baare community.

The Headmaster of the school, Thomas Apana, expressed gratitude for the new facility but highlighted several challenges facing the school, including a lack of infrastructure, furniture, and basic amenities such as a dining hall and dormitories.

“This school lacks a lot of infrastructure. The challenges facing the school are many and numerous, so we pray that more structures will be provided for us. That notwithstanding, on behalf of the entire school, I appreciate what the Assembly has done,” he said.

However, the Member of Parliament for the constituency, Daniel Dung Mahama, assured the school authorities that efforts are underway to address some of these challenges. He cited plans to initiate additional projects through the GETFund and to provide furniture for the school.

“I want to use this opportunity to assure the headmaster and others that, by the grace of God, within this year there will be two or three GETFund projects,” he stated.

Meanwhile, a three-unit classroom block started under the previous government through the Gulf of Guinea Social Cohesion Project (SOCO) in the Gbee community has also been completed and handed over to the community and the Ghana Education Service (GES) earlier.

The Talensi District Chief Executive, John Millim Nabwomya, said the initiative aligns with the government’s commitment to improving the quality of education and expanding access to educational infrastructure in the district.

A1 Radio | 101.1 MHz | David Azure | Tongo

The Talensi District Assembly in collaboration with the regional Coordinating Council has organized capacity building training programme at the assembly hall. The training was to build the competencies of staff in the local Governance Act,2016 (Act 936 and the Client Service Charter in order to perform duties more efficiently and effectively).

The District Chief Executive, Hon. Thomas Pearson Duanab Wuni, in a welcoming address urged staff members to avail themselves for new orientation programmes. He hinted that there will be more training programs for staff and further wished them all the best. The staff had the opportunity to ask questions and made suggestions which was addressed accordingly.

The Local Government Service mandates staff to undertake capacity building training to orient their skills and ensure better service delivery to their respective district.

The National Pensions Regulatory Authority has organised an outreach programme at Talensi District Assembly in the Upper East Region to educate and sensitize both formal and informal sector workers on the Three Tier Pension Scheme. The outreach programme was specifically, to encourage the informal sector workers in the area to join and actively participate in pension schemes to alleviate old age poverty.

Officials of NPRA in their speech expressed their delight for the huge turn up of various informal sector groups and individual traders present. They thanked the various group leaders and everyone present for making time to attend the forum. They also assured them that pension funds are very secured and should they decide to join and contribute to the scheme, their monies will be well guarded and non will go missing.

The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Stephen Yakubu, has urged candidates sitting for the Basic Education Certificate Examination to be confident in themselves to enable them to excel.

He said building one’s confidence and understanding the questions are some basic key things candidates need to consider before going into the examination hall.

Mr. Yakubu also called on the candidates to be calm and not panic, as well as show some level of respect to their invigilators as they guide them through the examination.

He made this call when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 radio’s Daybreak Upper East Show regarding the 2023 BECE, which began today, August 7, 2023.

The Regional Chairman of the Ghana Private Schools Association, Alhaji Issah Bukari, has also called on all candidates to see themselves as one and remain focused throughout the period of the Examination.

He said the candidates (from Private schools) were well prepared for the examination, having written a series of mock examinations, and were expected to excel.

A total of 22,431 candidates are sitting for this year’s BECE in the Upper East Region. Out of this, 10,578 are male and 11,853 are female.

Nationally, 600,714 candidates, comprising 300,323 males and 300,391 females from 18,983 schools, are sitting for the exams in 2,137 centres across the country.

Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Ghana

The Talensi District Assembly has procured and distributed 540 pieces of dual desk to some selected basic schools across the district between 28^th and 30^th June 2023.

In April this year, the Assembly procured and distributed 500 pieces of dual desk.

The latest figure of 540 brings the total number of dual desks procured by the Assembly to 1,040 pieces.

Today in history marks the 66^th Independence Day Celebration when Ghana became the first Country in sub-Saharan African to gain Independence from the imperialist colonial rule.  It was on this historic day that our country was declared Independent signifying the end of colonial rule. In commemoration of this day, it is important we remind ourselves the efforts of our forbearers whose toils and sacrifices has brought us this great relief from colonial exploitation.

The District Coordinating Director (DCD) Mr. Clifford Baba Atanga read the speech on behalf of the District Chief Executive (DCE) Hon. Thomas Pearson Duanab Wuni to commemorate the 66th Independence Day celebration at St. Theresa Primary School Park, Tongo. in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region on Monday, March 6 2023

Mr. Chairman, before I proceed, I wish to cease this opportunity and thank our revered chiefs, traditional leaders, heads of departments and other key stakeholders who have taken time of their busy schedules to honor this occasion.

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Invited Guests, the theme for the 66^th Independence Anniversary Day Celebration is “Our Unity! Our Strength! Our Purpose”. I consider this as refreshing as it seeks to reinforce the need for us to live together as one people with a common destiny with a unity of purpose. Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to demonstrate to the world that, despite our cultural, religious and political differences among others, we are one people with a common purpose to advance our country’s development.  It is worth mentioning that the Independence of Ghana will be meaningless if we as citizens do not live in peace and unity with one another. As the saying goes ‘Unity is Strength’.

Mr. Chairman, we must admit that the development of the district is a collective responsibility and all hands must be on deck to achieve the dream of a better and prosperous District. We must consciously pursue a common agenda that will inure to the development of the district as one people with a common destiny for the current and unborn generations. As people with common background we must find a common ground to solve all our differences and give peace a chance to flourish in the district for without peace there cannot be development.

Mr. Chairman, with your kind permission, I will like to take a look at some issues which affect the youth and requires the active participation of all stakeholders so that together we can proffer an amicable solution to the menace.

Education

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is sad to inform you that, for the period 2019, 2020 and 2021, the Talensi District Assembly scored below 50% in the BECE examination which is very worrying.

To address this, a committee was formed with the task of finding out the causes of the falling standards of education in the District. The Committee among other recommendations, recommended an awards scheme for students who excelled in the BECE examinations to serve as challenge for others to take their studies seriously. As part of today’s activities, some deserving students will be honored for excelling in the 2022 Basic Education Certificate Examination.

Mr. Chairman, apart from the infrastructure and other logistics support provided to the Ghana Education Service, the Assembly also procured mathematical sets and organized standard mock examination for the 2022 BECE candidates aimed at improving the performance of pupils.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to make a personal pledge that, any pupil in the Talensi District who get aggregate 6-9 in the BECE examination, will be awarded with a brand new laptop and other educational materials. This challenge is thrown to both boys and girls in private and public schools in the district.

Youth in galamsey

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Invited Guests, one of the major issues affecting the youth in the Talensi District is galamsey. It is an undeniable fact that most of the youth especially those of school going age have abandoned the schools to engage in galamsey. This desire for quick money by the youth has driven them out of schools to engage in galamsey activities. I wish to appeal to all stakeholders as a matter of urgency to collectively take necessary steps to address the situation to save the future of the youth. I will also like to make a passionate appeal to parents to play their roles effectively to curtail pupils from abandoning school for galamsey activities which is risky.

Teenage pregnancy and early marriage

Mr. Chairman, another problem confronting the youth in the district is the rise in teenage pregnancy and early marriage especially among school girls. It is very common to see children within the ages of 13-18 being pregnant. In the year 2022 alone, about 21 pupils got pregnant whiles 10 got married which is worrying. The current rate of teenage pregnancy in the Talensi District stands at 21% which is quite high. It is disheartening to know that, most of these pupils especially the girls are unable to return to school thereby ending their educational career abruptly. I wish to call on community leaders especially Chiefs, traditional leaders and Assembly Members to assist the relevant institutions to bring the situation under control for the betterment of our children.

Ladies and gentlemen, we must bear in mind that we cannot expect good results from our wards if the teachers are not dedicated and committed to their duty. In this regard, I wish to appeal to all our teachers to continue to put up their best to improve effective teaching and learning. Having said this, you the pupils must also show respect to the teachers who are trying their outmost best to impart the requisite knowledge and skills to you.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to thank the District Director of Education and staff and to appeal to them to embark on vigorous monitoring and supervision in schools to ensure that both teachers and learners play their respective roles to improve teaching and learning in our schools.

Finally, I wish to thank the planning committee for making this programme a successfully one.

On this note, I thank all the students here gathered, the security agencies and all other identifiable groups for taken time off their busy schedules to participate in the 66^th Independence Day Anniversary.

Long Live Talensi District

Long Live Ghana Our Beloved Country

Thank you.

Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of Catholic education. It starts the last Sunday in January and runs all week, which in 2023 is January 29 – February 4. The theme for National Catholic Schools Week 2023 is “Catholic Schools: Faith. Excellence. Service.” Schools typically observe the annual celebration week with Masses, open houses and other activities for students, families, parishioners and community members. Through these events, schools focus on the value Catholic education provides to young people and its contributions to our church, our communities and our nation.