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Former Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Nii Lantey Vanderpuye has expressed his displeasure at the rate at which betting companies are springing up in the country.

He said due to these outlets, children do not have to study because they are found at these centres after school hours, which hinder their educational progress.

He said this at a roundtable discussion on the District League Table (DLT) and its importance for national development.

The former minister, who also doubles as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Odododiodoo Constituency, indicated that there are about 38 betting outlets in his constituency, which resulted in the poor performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

He, however, mentioned that as MP, he initiated extra classes after school hours for the students under his jurisdiction, and that resulted in his constituency recording a higher performance in the recent BECE.

He urged the ministry to continue to collaborate with the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and UNICEF for the growth of the district assemblies.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) has revealed that they currently have 28 district offices out the 216 district assemblies in the country.

According to the Director of Regional Offices at GSS, Mrs Araba Forson, their staff at these district offices are under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, therefore the GSS does not have their own staff at the district level.

She said this was as a result of the decentralisation of some institutions about a year ago.

She called on the ministry to recruit more staff so that the GSS can train them for the remaining districts.

The decentralisation of public institutions in the country was to accelerate development and enhance the economy, as well as the capacity of relevant institutions to deliver on their spatial planning mandates.

Other institutions like the Ghana Education Service and the Ghana Health Service would soon be decentralised to enable assemblies mobilise funds to enhance their activities.