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About 180 final students in Junior High Schools (JHS) in the Okere Constituency of the Eastern region have benefited from a special one-week intensive vacation classes organized by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area to prepare them for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). The yearly programme has been organized by the MP, Dan Botwe since 2009 and this has helped to improve the BECE results in the constituency. Some of the students, who came from remote small towns were camped at the constituency capital, Adukrom at the Adukrom Senior High Technical School (ADUTEC) and fed for the intensive classes organized with the assistance of some selected teachers from the junior and senior high schools in the area. Others also attended the classes at the Adukrom Methodist Junior High School and Dawu Methodist Junior High School. Dan Botwe told DAILY GUIDE that the aim of the special vacation classes was to prepare the students to effectively answer various questions and also to expose them to boarding school life. He explained that the special classes were also to inculcate in the students some kind of discipline in scheduling their time to learn towards their BECE exams. He said when he became the MP for the area, he realized that most of the JHS students were either not taking their studies seriously or could not have time to study. He therefore met with the various PTAs of the schools in the constituency and arranged with them to have the special classes to help the students. According to him, his initiative had produced some positive results. He announced plans to organize the classes twice in a year for both final year students and JHS 2 students as well. �I want to expand the programme next year even though it will come with a huge cost,� he said, adding that some prominent citizens from the constituency have also been helpful in realizing that dream. He asked parents to take the education of their children seriously because a good foundation in education is a sure way to fight poverty. �I want to plead with parents to ensure that they provide whatever their children need in school to enable them further their education,� he said, affirming his commitment in helping to improve the standard of education in his constituency. Most of the students, in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, expressed gratitude to the MP, saying the special classes had exposed them to a lot new things, as they prepare to write their BECE in a few months� time.