Government has made available tax exemptions for private basic schools whose imported items are geared towards improving teaching and learning at their institution, Ms. Esther Happy Edjeani, Deputy Director in-Charge of Private Basic Schools at the Ghana Education Service has revealed. She said schools, which qualified under such tax regime, should be a well-recognised institutions that have satisfied all its registration requirements and tax obligations from the districts to the national level. Ms. Edjeani was speaking at the 33rd Graduation, Speech and Prize Giving Day of the St. Monica Preparatory Primary and Junior Secondary School in Accra. The school, which started from a humble beginning with only 17 students in its formative years in 1974, now stands tall as a pillar of strength among its peers. She said the schools would also be required to produce a photocopy of their tax clearance certificates and attach them to their bill of lading to enable the tax and port authorities clear their goods for them. She urged school proprietors to take advantage of the tax exemption to improve upon their infrastructure as well as the teaching and learning of their schools. Ms. Edjeani also encouraged parents to instil discipline and strong moral values in their children. " Parents, as the first teachers of the child must recognise the importance of their role as character builders entrusted with the responsibility of moulding the attitudes and personalities of their children," she added. She said parents as well have the responsibility to assist their children, cultivate self-respect and self-discipline to be able to resist negative peer pressure and channel their energies to academic activities. Mrs Lucy Love- Nyatedzu, the Proprietor of the school appealed to parents to allow their children to participate in camping and other extra curricula activities. She said these activities help broaden the minds of the children and give them a lot of exposure as they study about different ways of living as well as meet people from other communities. She said the school continued to give quality education and had produced a lot of prominent people with good standing in society within 33 years of existence. The school honoured students who excelled at their various disciplines and long serving staff members. Source: GNA