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In This Issue...Links to the News:
March 11, 2016
Regional Minister urges stakeholders to
support deprived schools
Cape Coast, Nov. 19, GNA-Nana Ato Arthur, Central Regional
Minister on Saturday stated that deprived schools when given
the necessary support and assistance could also become
well-endowed.
He, in this regard, called on all stakeholders in education
to assist and provide the needed support to such deprived
schools to enable them transform into special or ‘A’
schools.
Nana Arthur made these remarks, in an address read for him,
at the 30th anniversary celebration of University of Cape
Coast (UCC) Practice Senior Secondary School, popularly
known as University Practice Secondary School (UPSS), at
Cape Coast.
The anniversary celebration, which was under the theme,
“access to quality education, the role of UPSS” was attended
by people of all walks of life, including traditional
rulers, UCC Professors, politicians, past students of the
school and the general public.
The Regional Minister, who was the guest speaker, stated
that government, as a stakeholder has through the GETFUND
tried to bridge the gap between the well-endowed schools and
the deprived ones in the country.
He explained that currently, UPSS, which is also a deprived
school, has been provided with all the requisite textbooks,
a modern science complex and a girls hostel, adding that,
all subject areas in the school have permanent teachers to
facilitate smooth academic work.
Nana Arthur said, to complement government’s effort in the
transformation process of these less endowed schools,
parents and guardians have a tremendous role to play by
paying their wards’ fees, ensuring that the students lived
upright lives devoid of moral decadence and inculcating into
them good habits to enable them to become responsible
citizens.
He urged the business sector to be more involved in changing
these schools into well-endowed ones because without quality
training and skills attained in education, there would be no
qualified manpower to promote the growth of the business
sector.
The Regional Minister commended the headmistress, the
teaching and non-teaching staff of the school and the
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) as well as past students
whose efforts have contributed significantly to the
continued rise in the fortunes of UPSS.
Ms Susana Lokko, headmistress of
UPSS said the school has witnessed a lot of improvement in
the academic performance of its students over the past years
and that apart from two students who were absent in the 2005
senior secondary school certificate examinations all the 213
candidates who took part in the examinations passed in
between eight and three subjects.
According to her, 114 out of the number passed in eight
subjects, 49 in seven subjects, 28 in six, 17 in five, one
in four and two in three subjects, and that 100 percent
passes were scored in 14 subject areas, a feat she described
as a remarkable improvement over the 2004 results.
She commended both the teaching and the non teaching staff
for their dedication and commitment to duty which had
impacted positively on the academic performance of the
students and urged them to keep it up.
Ms Lokko appealed to the government to provide the school
with a means of transport and that apart from one old
Bedford truck and a Benz bus donated by the PTA six years
ago which visited the mechanic shop almost every week, UPSS
as a day-school was beset with a serious transportation
problem.
Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, Omanhen of Oguaa traditional area,
in a goodwill message, advised the students to eschew
indiscipline, be law-abiding and be serious with their
studies to enable them to achieve success in their academic
pursuits.
The Reverend Professor Emmanuel Adow Obeng, Vice-Chancellor
of UCC, also in a goodwill message, described the school as
an important component of the University and reiterated that
UCC would protect its lands at all costs against
encroachment, so as to help UPSS expand its infrastructure
in future.
He congratulated the headmistress and staff as well as the
students on the occasion of its 30th anniversary and
commended them for their hard work and dedication, which had
enabled them to chalk success in their academic work.
Master Moses Aikins, the school’s head prefect, said the
academic year has been very challenging due to the strike
action of the members of the National Association of
Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), which he said impacted
negatively on academic work.
According to him, the senior students as a way of ensuring
that academic work continued taught the junior students
during the period of the strike action, and commended the
students of UCC who also visited the school frequently to
teach them.
Professor Lawrence Owusu-Ansah, Vice-Dean, Faculty of Arts
of UCC, who presided, explained that it was people, who
changed deprived schools into well-endowed ones, and that
“with the right support, right assistance and discipline any
school could rise high”.
Prizes were awarded to deserving students and staff.
GNA
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