3 Assemblies offer land for O'Reilly SHS

AMA boss, Alfred Vanderpuije

Three municipal assemblies in Accra have offered to provide lands for the construction of permanent infrastructure for the O'Reilly Senior High School.

They are the Ga South, Ga West and Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal assemblies.

This brings to four the number of assemblies that have come to the aid of the school, following the deadline given to the authorities of the school to vacate their current premises as a result of the expiration of the school's tenancy agreement.

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) was the first to offer the school a land situated along the High Street.

The move by the four assemblies was the outcome of a meeting held by the Regional Co-ordinating Council, chaired by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey.

The meeting was attended by the Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, the Ga South Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Sheriff Nii Dodoo, the Ga West Municipal Chief Executive, Dr Ebenezer Nii Armah Tackie and the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Daniel Amartey Mensah.

Others were the Headmistress of O'Reilly SHS, Ms Mary Adu-Gyamfi, the Board Chairman of the school; Mr A.A. Buanya, as well as other board members and staff of the RCC.

According to Mr Annan Akuetteh, the Public Relations Officer of the RCC, the stakeholders agreed to visit the various sites after which one would be chosen for the construction of a permanent structure for the school.

"They would choose one out of the four sites, taking into consideration transportation and facilities for the students," he said.

He said the stakeholders at the meeting agreed that the school be given three more years to prepare to relocate.

Mr Akuetteh said the regional minister would meet the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo and the management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to impress upon them to renegotiate for an extension of the deadline for the school to relocate.

"They want the landlord(s) to give them' three more years by which time a land would have been secured and facilities put up for the school to relocate," he said.

He said the stakeholders also wanted first year students to be admitted into the school this year even as it planned to relocate.

The O'Reilly SHS, established 85 years ago, has operated at different locations. For the last 20 years, the school has operated from rented premises at Adabraka in Accra.

With the school's tenancy set to expire next year, the GES served notice that there should be no form one admissions for the 2010/2011 academic year.

Additionally, it said, the current SHS two students of the school were to be distributed among other senior high schools, while the staff were to be re-posted, among other things.

Some key stakeholders of the school including the parent-teacher association (PTA) kicked against the decision, saying it would affect the students.

Following the uproar over the decision of the GES to phase out the school, a meeting was held by the stakeholders last week to find an amicable solution to the predicament.

At the meeting, attended by officials of the GES, it was agreed, among other things, that the GES re-negotiated with the owners of the building housing the school, for an extension of the deadline to vacate the facility from 2011 to 2013.