The Volta River Authority (VRA) has provided a total of 2,250 textbooks to five Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the Biakoye District of the Oti Region as part of the organisation’s education support programme to VRA impacted communities.
Aimed at promoting of quality education, the donation included textbooks mainly, English, Mathematics and Integrated Science, and each of the five schools in the Biakoye District would be given 450, which formed part of a total of 24,700 textbooks VRA is distributing to 55 SHS and SHTS in its catchment area.
Speaking at a ceremony at the Bonwiri SHS at Kwamekrom in the Bonwiri Traditional Area, the Principal Community Relations Officer (PCRO) of VRA, Mrs Rhoda Arthur, said it was the belief of VRA that education held the key to development therefore, the provision of the textbooks to supplement existing teaching and learning materials in the schools was appropriate.
Mrs Arthur said, VRA was considering establishment of Technical and Vocational Training Institute (TVET), in the Biakoye District or outside the district, to help develop the skills of the youth, and would also support the students to write the proficiency examination one and two that would prepare them adequately, to contribute to development.
She observed that skills training had become crucial in community development drive, therefore, the youth who would successfully complete their programmes, would be expected to serve in their respective districts, and help reduce youth unemployment as well as promote development in their respective areas.
According to her, VRA’s support to education was not limited to the second cycle level of education but was also extended to the tertiary institutions, where VRA provided scholarship to students, saying since 2011, the organisation had provided a total of 389 scholarships to students in its operational communities in the country.
The Biakoye District Coordinating Director (DCD), Mr Vincent Banye, who represented the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mrs Millicent Kabuki Carboo, thanked the VRA for the support, which he said would go a long way to promote education in the beneficiary schools in the area because the textbooks were vital to ensuring effective teaching and learning in the schools.
Mr Banye urged students to take advantage of the opportunities VRA, government and their parents had provided for them, and learned hard to pass their examinations to justify the investment being made in them, stressing on the need for them to avoid practices that would affect their education and endanger their future.
FROM SAMUEL AGBEWODE, KWAMEKROM