ACHEL FAMILY SUPPORS EDUCATION IN WORIKAMBO (D/G Monday, March 16, 2009. PAGE 36)

PARTICIPANTS in a forum in Tamale recently to discuss ways of expediting the development of northern Ghana have expressed disappointment with northerners in leadership positions for not doing much to transform the area.
According to news reports, participants in the forum held the view that while northerners in key positions only amassed wealth and built mansions in the south, they returned home to build only "huts", thereby contributing to a further widening of the north-south development gap.
One family that does not fit into the above category mentioned above is the Achel Family of Worikambo, a community about 10 kilometres miles away from Garu-Tempane.
Concerned about the unimpressive academic performance of the children, members of the Achel Family of Worikambo have established an education endowment fund to support brilliant, needy students in senior high schools (SHSS).
The endowment fund was launched on February 27, 2009 in memory of the late Colonel Mark Mbawuni Achel, who had great passion for education.
The goal of the fund is to raise money to provide financial support to the best male and female junior high school (JHS) graduates from the Worikambo JHS during their four-year SHS.
The children of the late Colonel Achel, who was the first individual in the Achel family to receive formal education, have taken it upon themselves to contribute financially towards the fund while a special board of trustees chaired by the district director of education, would be set up to ensure the disbursement of the funds to beneficiary students.
The eldest son of the late Colonel Achel, Mr David Sando Achel, who was one time Chief of Army Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, said the fund was named after his late father because of the importance he attached to education.
According to him, his late father made sure that as many members of the Achel family as possible had access to education.
He said the late colonel also extended his benevolence to members of his extended family and other citizens of Worikambo.
Mr Sando Achel said the fund was, therefore, to help encourage the present-day students to study hard and excel in their academic pursuit in order to realise their dreams of becoming responsible future leaders.
He said beneficiaries of the fund should be limited to final-year students of Worikambo JHS who fully participate in the Basic Education Certificate Examination for the first year, adding that the scholarship would be extended to other students in the community in subsequent years.
The best male and female students every year will benefit from a bursary of GH¢100 each at the beginning of each academic year for their four-year SHS programme, which would be adjusted periodically to take care of inflation as and when necessary.
Mr Sando Achel threw a challenge to the students to learn hard to justify the investment being made in them.
The District Director of Education, Mr Eugene Zongo-Naa, commended the family of the late Colonel Achel for establishing the endowment fund, the first of its kind in the district.
He also threw a challenge to the other citizens as well as the general public to support the fund to ensure that many more children from Worikambo acquired quality education.
The Headmaster of Worikambo JHS, Mr Patrick M. Abugri, said the intervention by the Achel family would go a long way to boost education in the area.
He, however, bemoaned the inadequate number of teachers in the area, stressing that apart from the three trained teachers, the school had engaged three other volunteer teachers to assist in training the children.
While appealing to parents to contribute something little to encourage the volunteer teachers, he also appealed for exercise books and other supplementary readers to aid the running of the school.
As a first step to ensuring that the students excel, the estate of the late Colonel Achel donated 40 dual desks to the school to enhance effective teaching and learning.
The assembly member for Worikambo, Mr Abu Seidu Kariyama, appealed to members of the Worikambo community to desist from stealing furniture from schools, since such actions retarded education of the children.