Work hard – Council of State member tells students

Mr. Asonaba Dapaah, a member of the Council of State, has advised students in deprived schools not to be saddled by the odds they faced but to work hard to overcome them.

He said they should be disciplined and study hard to be able to nurture their potentials.

"Many great men began on humble notes and yet managed to defy the odds and rubbed shoulders with their counterparts from well-endowed schools."

Mr. Dapaah was speaking at the launch of the Silver Jubilee of Dadease Agricultural Secondary School (DASS) at Dadease near Effiduase in the Sekyere East District of the Ashanti Region at the weekend.

The anniversary is on the theme "Equal Opportunity plus self-confidence equals excellence".

He appealed to stakeholders and non-governmental organisations to complement government's efforts at providing infrastructure and social amenities to deprived schools.

Mr Dapaah congratulated the school on its academic progress, regardless of it being in the category of deprived schools.

"You do not even have an administration block of your own yet you have managed to increase the school's enrolment from 120 to over 700 in the last few years and also achieved a steady improvement in the school's examination results."

Mr. Dapaah promised to facilitate the school's bid to build its own administrative block and also acquire a bus.

Mr. Ekow Annan, Assistant Headmaster, said the school had a 39.29 percentage pass and 48.89 in 2003 and 2004 respectively when 28 and 46 candidates respectively sat for the then Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE).

He said 89 candidates were presented for the 2005 Examination and chalked 56.2 percentage pass while the school had 29.3 percentage pass in 2006 after presenting 124 candidates when the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) was introduced.