District Chief Executive for Sagnarigu in the Northern Region is demanding the arrest and prosecution of officials of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) under whose watch some Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) papers leaked.
According to Alhassan Mohammed Sorigudoo, the leaked papers saga exposed corrupt practices at the WAEC for which reason the offenders should be punished.
He made the demand during the distribution of a large quantity of Information Communication Tools (ICT) by the Tamale Rotary Club in collaboration with the Sagnarigu District Assembly.
The beneficiary schools included Bagabaga Demonstration Junior High School (B), Tiyumba Junior High, Bethel Methodist Junior High and Tamale Vocational Training Institute.
Each school received 20 tablets and their accessories such as micro SD cards, wireless USBs, raspberry PI servers, ear phones and power banks.
Alhassan Mohammed Sorigudoo described the BECE papers leakage as totally unacceptable, hence his call for the prosecution of those found culpable.
“I want to caution that corruption as the perception has always been is always been attributed to politicians: these are all forms of corruption and I don’t think any of the politicians is associated with this kind of act.”
“If at this tender age of our students we are preparing their minds to engage in malpractices, we are preparing them towards a corrupt future, a corrupt society and a collapsed society and this is an issue we should all be worried about,” he underscored.
He tasked parents and guardians to inculcate good morals in their children to enable them abhor corruption.
“We should do well to take very good care of our students and our children: I am calling on all stakeholders, parents, teachers and students that we should stop preparing the minds of the students towards malpractices and towards corruption because they will inculcate that and at any stage in their lives they will be thinking of dubious means of achieving their ambitions in life.”
“In so doing we are heading towards total confusion and in the midst of confusion we cannot survive as a society and we cannot survive as a nation,” he warned.
On the donation, he urged authorities of the beneficiary schools to use the items for the intended purpose.
President of the Rotary Club of Tamale, Alex Kpodo explained that the intervention sought to improve ICT education especially in rural communities.
He said over learning materials from basic to tertiary levels have been downloaded on the tablets.
Alex Kpodo disclosed that the club also supported some deprived schools in the region with dual desks.
He said the club as part of its social interventions constructed 31 boreholes in addition to 300 household toilet facilities in deprived communities.
On health, he said the club adopted a ward at the Tamale Teaching Hospital and equipped it with essential medical equipment.
He proudly stated that the Rotary Club which was formed in 1971 could boast of 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide.
Northern Regional Planning Officer at the Ghana Education Service (GES), David Awuni promised that the items will be put to good use.
“These items are of great importance to us and I want to promise that these tablets will be used for only educational purposes.”
He cautioned teachers against diverting the tablets for their personal use.
SOURCE: GHANAWEB