SIF MAKES STRIDES IN EDUCATION IN UW (PAGE 17)

THE Upper West Region, the latest in the country, cannot boast many educational facilities as compared to the other regions, especially in the south but it has over the years striven to improve the situation through the efforts of the respective district assemblies.
But one other intervention which has helped to enhance the provision of educational infrastructure, classroom furniture, among other things in the region, is the Social Investment Fund (SIF). The SIF, which was set up in 1998 through the efforts of the government of Ghana, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support both the rural and the urban poor across the country, was aimed at reducing poverty among the rural and urban poor.
This was also to ensure that people have access to basic economic and social infrastructure to enhance access of the poor to financial services by increasing the availability of micro finance as well as building the capacities of indigenous financial institutions.
It is significant to note that with that objective, classroom blocks with offices and public places of convenience have been constructed in the Upper West Region under the SIF, as well as furniture provided for schools across the nine districts of the region.
In the Nadowli District for instance, six three-unit classroom blocks with offices, stores and public places of convenience have been constructed. Furniture costing GH¢92, 845.23 have also been constructed.
Similarly, three different six-unit classroom blocks and a three-unit block have been provided for the Sissala West District at a cost of GH¢110, 783.33, while the Sissala East District has two of such classroom infrastructure worth GH¢62, 600. Other beneficiary districts include the Wa East, Lawra, Jirapa and the Lambussie districts.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the SIF Zonal Officer responsible for the three northern regions, Mr Kwame Obeng Nti, said the total cost of the entire projects was GH¢578, 270.66.
He said although the SIF was poised to reach almost every corner of the Upper West Region in particular, and the whole of the three northern regions, the demand for such facilities from the respective communities outweighs the financial position of the SIF, even though it is the wish of SIF to provide the facilities on a demand driven basis.
He pointed out that apart from the health facilities which had received some attention, the education sector had been neglected.