Tens of thousands of pupils attending English and Arabic schools in the Northern Region risk dropping out of school with immediate effect if the National Service Secretariat (NSS) under its voluntary service program upholds its decision to discontinue paying Arabic instructors. Arabic instructors who have since 2007 been paid under the voluntary service have been told by the NSS that they are no longer eligible to receive the allowances. In a statement issued jointly by all the English and Arabic education units in the Northern Region, the Arabic institutions say since they cannot pay their teachers, the only option is to withdraw their membership from the schools. The statement signed by spokesperson for the groups, Alhaji Alhassan Sulemana, chronicles various attempts at getting the government to intervene on the matter, including visits to the office of the vice president and the northern regional minister but to no avail. The statement recognizes the enthusiasm shown by the offices of the vice president and the regional minister but accuses the NSS director of working against the interest of the Arabic instructors, adding, his claim that they are too many is unacceptable. The statement said they will withdraw all their teachers from the 586 Arabic and English schools in the region if nothing is done to renew their privileges to the allowances. The withdrawal could be tantamount to closure since the Arabic instructors argue that even though public funds were used to construct many of the structures in the schools, the lands were acquired by them. The closures of these schools constitute a substantial risk of denying tens of thousands of pupils of poor family background any formal education since such pupils, who include senior high school students, make up a colossal majority of attendees in the English and Arabic Schools. Story by Mahama Sayibu/Joy News/Tamale.