Mr Bernard Bekoe, a retired educationist, in the Ashanti Region has filed his nomination to contest Council of State membership.
Mr Bekoe, one of the ten contestants in the Region, promised among plans, to lobby government to provide free education to wards of poor parents in deprived rural communities to enable them pursue their education to appreciable levels.
He said his teaching career had taken him to many remote areas in most parts of the country and he was conversant with the plight of most parents who could not keep their children in school as a result of poverty.
"The negative social impact of this school drop-out situation is enormous of the economy and this is going to be my first and foremost priority when I am voted for the position," he said.
Mr Bekoe further said he would counsel government to implement proactive agrarian policies to improve the livelihood of farmers, who depend on agriculture for a living.
He would also advocate for agricultural extension interventions to enable farmers increase the annual yield of crops and also call for proper storage to deal with the perennial problem of post-harvest loses plaguing the agricultural sector.
He said the current situation where contestants did not know members of the Electoral College was not the best and called for ways to bring the two parties together.