Vice President John Dramani Mahama at the weekend observed that investment in quality education is the only asset parents could bequeath their children and future generations.
"The acquisition of knowledge and skills are the only means by which these young children can become part of the knowledge based global economy," he stressed Vice President Mahama made the observation at the first Speech and Prize Giving Day of Duong Primary and Junior High Schools at Duong in the Nadowli District of the Upper West Region.
He said the acquisition of knowledge alone could not make one useful to oneself, community and the nation if one was not honest and respectful to teachers, parents and the elderly in society.
He therefore advised the students to cultivate the virtues of honesty and integrity as they progress towards their chosen careers and avoid the use of drugs and premarital sex that leads to teenage pregnancy.
"These vices will cut short whatever vision you (students) have set out for yourself in life", he said.
He commended members of the Duong Youth and Development Association who organised the event for investing in the education of their kith and kin.
Vice President Mahama suggested that the speech and prize giving day should not be a nine day wonder but should be institutionalised to encourage healthy competition among the pupils so that they could bring out their best.
The Vice President who also visited the Bone Setting Centre at Duong where they were 15 patients with various degrees of fractures undergoing local treatment, called for the mainstreaming of activities at facility into
the orthodox medical practice.
He said government recognized the important role alternative medicine played in the health service delivery system and would continue to fund research activities into the area of curative medicine by providing a platform for collaboration between orthodox medical practitioners and their traditional counterparts.
He called on the regional and district directors of health to ensure that a nurse was posted to Duong to oversee medical services at centre and the Community Based Health Planning Service.
Vice President Mahama directed the District Chief Executive of Nadowli and the Nadowli District Assembly to provide a borehole for the clinic to cater for the needs of patients.
Talking on Agriculture, Vice President Mahama said inadequate rainfall, floods, drought and poor farming practices had contributed to food
insecurity in the North resulting in the youth migrating to the South to engage in farming ventures and in head potterage.
He said government was determined to address the situation under the Northern Rural Growth Programme.
Vice President Mahama assured the chiefs and people of Duong that government would provide the community with a dam, next year to promote all
year round agricultural activities.
He said government would also offer subsidised irrigation pumps to farmers to increase food production.
Vice President Mahama urged the people to take interest in small ruminants rearing by adhering to scientific animal husbandry practices to produce more animals to augment their incomes and nutritional status.
Mr. Alban Bagbin, Member of Parliament for Nadowli West expressed dissatisfaction about the lack of teachers in some schools in the
constituency.
He said he had invested much of his share of the District Assemblies' Common Fund in supporting teacher trainees and could not understand why schools in his constituency were still lacking teachers.
Mr. Bagbin said he would publish the names of all those who benefited from the assembly's training package but were teaching elsewhere to refund the money investment in their education.