|
Rural Banks urged to expand
scholarship schemes
Awutu-Bawjiase (C/R), July 29, GNA -
Rural and Community Banks have been urged to expand their
scholarship schemes to cover prospective students in teacher
training colleges who hail from their areas of operation.
This would augment government efforts at producing more
qualified teachers to handle the affairs of basic schools in
remote communities.
Shareholders of the Awutu-Bawjiase Area Rural Bank made the
suggestion at the bank's 17th annual general meeting at
Bawjiase in the Central Region.
The meeting expressed satisfaction at the excellent manner
the board of directors, management and workers of the bank
had been administering the affairs of the bank. They
therefore unanimously raised the sitting allowance of the
board members to encourage them to work harder.
According to the shareholders, although some viable rural
and community banks, including the Bawjiase Area Rural Bank,
had in recent years, been very supportive in the promotion
of basic and secondary education, more still remained to be
done to man rural schools with adequate trained teachers.
The shareholders expressed the belief that directors and
managers of rural and community banks wishing to assist
prospective teacher trainees to accomplish their dreams
could fashion out comprehensive scholarship schemes under
which beneficiary students could be bonded for a period of
five years to work in the catchment area of the sponsors on
completion of their training.
Majority of male shareholders who attended the meeting
appealed to the board to provide male artisan and trading
shareholders with micro credit facilities as was being done
to female counterparts to enable them to also improve their
small scale businesses.
Mr Emmanuel Kwapong, Managing Director of ARB Apex Bank, and
Mr E.K. Osei-Bonsu, President of the Association of Rural
and community Banks, commended directors, management, and
workers of the Bawjiase Area Rural Bank for their impressive
performance over the years.
They maintained that their excellent work output had
resulted in the consistent growth of the bank in the past
six years, thus making it one of the leading rural banks in
the country.
Mr. Kwapong and Mr Osei-Bonsu expressed the hope that the
board, management and entire work force of the bank would
step up their team work to realize the bank's dream of
becoming a member of the 'Club 100'.
Mr. Emmanuel Kofi Osei, chairman of the bank's Board of
Directors, thanked both shareholders and customers of the
bank for their co-operation and mutual understanding and
appealed to them to increase their shareholdings and
deposits to strengthen the financial base of the bank.
Mr. Osei explained that this would enable the bank to
increase its loans portfolio in the current operational year
and also provide more social facilities to people in the
catchment areas as expected by the Awutu-Effutu-Senya
District Assembly.
GNA
|
