Out of 400 pupils who took part in the 2009 BECE in the Chereponi District, only 33 of them had placement into Senior High Schools, due to abysmal performance in the district this year.
Alhaji Issah Seidu Abah, District Chief Executive (DCE), who announced this on Thursday during the second ordinary sitting of the Assembly said the downward trend, needed to be addressed to ensure that the only Senior High
School in the district was not closed down due to inadequate students for
admission.
He said though children in the district had been performing poorly, this year had witnessed the worse performance saying, "If strategies are not adopted to address the problem the only Senior High School, which had attained boarding status would not be able to make the required admissions and may be compelled to close down"
Alhaji Abah blamed the abysmal performance on the dismal classroom situation and a recent rainstorm that that ripped off the roofs of about 40 classrooms and displaced the children who never had effective classes before their examinations.
He said about GH¢130,000 was needed to re-roof the school buildings and called on donor partners, NGOs and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to intervene to renovate them to ensure that education was improved in the district.
He said the district was collaborating with CAMFED, an NGO operating in the Northern Region to employ some pupil teachers to augment the numbers, while the assembly also sponsor some students into training colleges, bond them to stay and teach in the district after completion.
Alhaji Abah also decried the low revenue mobilisation in the district saying, "From January to date only an amount of GH¢8,147.52 has been collected out of a target of about GH¢27,930.00 representing 30 per cent.
He appealed to Assembly Members and revenue collectors to strategise ways of revenue mobilisation, to ensure the effective development planning for the district.
On the trial 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC), which Chereponi is involved in, Alhaji Abah advised Assembly Members to get their electorate well educated on the exercise to ensure that everyone was counted in both
the trial census and the main one next year.
Mr. Emmanuel Kandoh, Presiding Member (PM) of the Assembly stressed the need for peace and tranquillity in the area to pave way for development and to address the poverty levels of the people.
He said it was necessary to show respect and cherish political and ethnic diversity especially during festive occasions and stressed that
chiefs and opinion leaders should always be consulted for their wisdom to solve conflicts when they occur.