Sunyani Municipal Assembly donates to SHS pupils… But school heads cry over infrastructure

As part of its contribution towards promoting effective teaching and learning, the Sunyani Municipal Assembly has donated mathematical sets to pupils of the Sunyani Senior High School and Twene Amanfo Senior/Technical School.

A total number of 1,800 mathematical sets were presented to each of the two beneficiary schools.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Kwame Twumasi Awuah, who made the presentation, used the occasion to officially hand over buses donated by the Government of Ghana, to the authorities of the two schools.

He charged the heads of the two beneficiary institutions, to distribute the mathematical sets to the pupils without any disparities, to observe the intended purpose of the donation.

Mr. Twumasi Awuah noted that modern education had gone beyond the normal classroom teaching method, so pupils must be sent on academic-related excursions and trips, to ascertain different things in diverse environments, hence the appreciation for the bus to be used to augment that purpose, to the advantage of the schools.

He charged the authorities to abide by the principles of regular maintenance, to ensure that the buses remained strong and durable, to serve the schools.

The Municipal Chief Executive urged the pupils to be submissive and disciplined towards their teachers, to be able to achieve higher academic goals, adding that all social vices must be eschewed, for the pupils to become the responsible future leaders needed to move the country forward.

The Headmaster of the Sunyani Senior High School, Mr. Joseph Awuah, commended the Sunyani Municipal Assembly and the Government of Ghana, for its commitment toward promoting quality education in the country.

He gave the assurance that the bus would be used as expected, and maintained to serve its purpose, while the mathematical sets would be distributed to the pupils, without any disparities.

According to Mr. Joseph Awuah, the government, through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) had done a lot for the school, including the construction of an ongoing GH¢300,000 assembly hall complex, but expressed unhappiness over the rate at which work was progressing.

Mr. Joseph Awuah was not happy with how the contractor executing the project was delaying, saying the project was to be completed within 10 months, but work on it was virtually at a standstill.

He noted the workforce at the project site, showed that the contractor did not attach much importance to the contract, saying such a contract deserved enough workers and quality equipment that would facilitate the work, to meet the expected completion time.

On the contrary, the foreman for the Construction firm, JOPOKU Limited, Amos Agyei, disclosed that the contract was signed last year, 2007, and it was to be completed within two years, so everything was on course to finish even earlier than the expected time.

At the Twene Amanfo Senior Technical High School, Mrs. Georgina Boakye, also extolled government on its enormous contribution towards uplifting the image of the school, citing the ongoing construction of a 2-storey administration block, which the school wished it could have been a 3-storey instead of two, due to scarcity of land in the school.

Mrs. Georgina Boakye however cried over lack of accommodation for both teachers and pupils, saying it had been a headache for the school, which needed urgent attention from all stakeholders in the education sector.

According to the Headmistress, last year the situation of lack of accommodation for pupils delayed their admission process, because students who were placed at the school, under the Computerized Placement System from places beyond Sunyani, could not make it, and had to go to other schools close by.

She said the school, last year, had no choice than to wait for three consecutive placement exercises, before finally having the required number of students for admission at a later hour, which is likely to happen again this year.