The country could have attained the millennium development goals by 2015 if development in the three northern regions had kept pace with the rest of the country, according to a development expert Mr. Ubald Sabogu. The Education Programme Officer of the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) Ghana in-charge of the Northern, Upper East and West regions said numerous development challenges characterized by unimaginable rate of poverty had bedeviled the three regions. Available statistics, he noted, indicated that 9, 8 and 7 out of every 10 people representing ninety, eighty and seventy per cent in the Upper East, West and Northern regions respectively, were considered to be very poor. Mr. Sabogu, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, cited the educational constraints in the three northern regions as the major problem hindering the development of the area. The VSO Education Programme Officer, said statistics further indicated that about 29 per cent of adults in the three regions were illiterates while only 9 per cent of children reaching primary five and six could read and understand, adding, all these were setbacks that impeded development. He, therefore, said all efforts by government, NGOs as well as individuals should be geared towards providing quality education to help uplift the living conditions of the people in the three regions. He said quality education could not be achieved if classrooms were all choked with non professional teachers. Mr. Sabogu called for the training of more teachers who should also be motivated to work. According to him, this could not be attained if living conditions of teachers were not significantly improved warning that they could seek greener pastures somewhere. He said a research known as "valuing teacher research" would be conducted by VSO in the three regions to find out some of the key areas that government needed to address to enhance efficient teaching and learning at schools and also improve the living conditions of teachers to stay and work. Source: GNA