The North Tongu District Chief Executive (DCE), Alhaji Dzinadu Bubey, has called on parents to ensure that their children do not spend time at funeral celebrations in the night to the detriment of their studies, because it was clear that some parents failed to play their roles effectively in guiding their wards, a negative development that contributed to the poor performance of some pupils in schools.

The North Tongu DCE, who was speaking at separate functions when he distributed free school uniforms and exercise books to the Mafi-Tsetsekpo L.A. Primary, Dorfor-Agorveme and Dorfor- Melenu schools, noted that the government's efforts to promote education such as the provision of books and uniforms would be meaningless, if parents failed to complement such efforts.

Alhaji Bubey continued that 40 basic schools in the District, which were mostly in deprived communities, had been identified to benefit from over 5,000 school uniforms and a number of exercise books, as part of the government's effort to redeem its promise made to the people to enhance education in the country.

He said the government would not fail to deliver according to the planned developmental activities, particularly, in the area of education, and stressed the need for the people, with emphasis on parents, to live up to their responsibilities, because effective education should be seen as a collective responsibility of all stakeholders, and not the state only.

Alhaji Bubey said the development agenda set by the government was to develop a culture in the educational sector that would help create equal opportunities for pupils and students to develop their talent, saying there could only be meaningful development, if matters of education were tackled with tact and seriousness.

He pointed out that pupils, without school uniforms, or those who wore tattered uniforms among the few privileged, suffered psychologically in class, as they felt worried about their situations, and most of the times did not concentrate in class.

Alhaji Bubey also used the opportunity to advise teachers to put in their best to promote education in the District, because when they failed to perform, it rendered efforts being made by the government to enhance education meaningless.

He also advised pupils and students to take advantage of the opportunities available to them, and study seriously.

The District Director of Education, Mr. Jonathan Ganyo, said the provision of the uniforms and the exercise books, ought to be seen as a serious challenge thrown to parents and other stakeholders in education, to put in their best to help improve on teaching and learning in the area.

Mr. Ganyo asked parents and teachers to help the pupils take good care of the uniforms and the books, particularly, parents, because the proper handling of the items would be an indication that the parents valued the items, which would be the basis for which government could offer further assistance to school children in the remote parts of the District.

The Headteacher of the Mafi-Tsetsekpo Primary School, Mr. Gabriel Azievor, expressed concern over the inadequacy of teachers in the school, and disclosed that the school had only four teachers, who handled Kindergarten One and Two up to Primary Six, a situation, he said, was affecting teaching and learning.