Odoben Senior High School celebrates 20th Anniversary and Sixth Speech and Prize Giving Day

Odoben (C/R), Nov. 30, GNA – The Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa (AOB) District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr s Georgina Nkrumah Aboah has said the provision of Quality education, and the establishment of vibrant schools require constant and effective collaboration of all stakeholders in education.

Mrs Aboah made the statement when she delivered a speech on behalf of Madam Ama Benyiwa-Doe, Central Regional Minister, at the 20th anniversary celebration and sixth Speech and Prize Giving Day of Odoben Senior High School at Odoben in the Central Region.

It was under the theme: “Twenty Years of Quality Community Secondary Education: Impact and Challenges.”

The DCE said major stakeholdersin education included government, teachers, parents, media, church, society and students.

"The need for team work in order to build a better school is therefore very essential," she said, adding that effective teamwork did not happen automatically but took a great deal of hard work and compromise to achieve.

She said the provision of infrastructure coupled with the support of the church, effective teaching, proper monitoring and supervision by headmaster and directors of education, responsible parenting and the role of the media, all demonstrated the importance of teamwork in the development of education.

The DCE disclosed that barely tow years in office, the Odoben SHS had benefited from the district wide distribution of relatively scarce resources, which included the construction of a girl's hostel, four-unit bathhouse and eight-seater KVIP places of convenience.

Mrs Aboah commended the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) for their selfless dedication and commitment to ensure the development of the school.

She urged the students to take their studies very seriously, since that was the current trend, and to remember that time was an invaluable resource that had no substitute.

“In order to effectively manage time as a limited resource we need to be disciplined when we are disciplined we are more likely to make a positive impact on our individual and collective lives.”

Mr Albert Enninful, Headmaster of the school said in his speech that the school presented 173 students for the West African Senior School certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2011, with 44 passing in eight subjects, 43 passes in seven subjects while 45 passed in 6 subjects.

He said 24 of the candidates also passed in five subjects, 12 in four subjects, one in three subjects, three in two subjects and one in one subject.

According to the Headmaster, the results were an improvement over the previous year's performance which the staff would continue to work harder to improve upon.

Mr Enninful disclosed that infrastructural development in the school had been rather slow but purposeful, adding that all attempts to get government assistance in infrastructural development had yielded poor results..

He said a contractor engaged to build a six-unit classroom block to accommodate the Form One student dug trenches for the building's foundation, deposited 200 iron bars at the site and abandoned the project.

He urged the Ministry of Education to re-award the project, to help address the school's accommodation problems.

The Headmaster appealed to the Central Regional Minister to help the school to complete all ongoing projects and also to use her good office to arrange to get them a bus to facilitate transportation on campus..

Mr Kofi Sarfo Kantanka, Central Regional director of Ghana Education, said in a speech delivered on his behalf by Mr Isaac Amoanoo, Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District Education Director that much needed to be done on the part of students to achieve the excellence that they desired to attain.

He advised the students to eschew all manner of immoral behaviour, unwanted association and wanton disregard for rules and regulations.

He urged them to remember that AIDS and hepatitis were real and they need to behave well to avoid contracting those deadly diseases, adding that they should concentrate on their books and let reading and learning be their sole preoccupation.

GNA