Chief urges school authorities to provide visionary leadership

April 10, 2011 Akim Swedru (E/R), April 10, GNA - Nana Professor Asante Kodan II, Chief of Bosome Akwamu in the Birim South District, has advised heads of academic institutions to provide visionary leadership and be innovative in confronting the problems of their schools.

They should also be more proactive in soliciting funds from the Ghana Education Trust Fund and other sources to undertake educational projects, he challenged.

Nana Prof Kodan was speaking as one of the chairpersons at a farewell church service in honour of the Very Reverend Abraham Osei Donkor, outgoing headmaster of the Akim Swedru Senior High School in the Eastern Region, who is also a Methodist priest.

Priests, traditional rulers, judges, business managers, school heads and students, with others, attended the service at the Akim Swedru Methodist Church on Sunday.

A former Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr Felix Owusu-Agyapong, who co-chaired the occasion, described the outgoing headmaster as a man with academic prowess and commended him and his staff for working diligently towards improving on discipline, academic work and sports in the school.

The former MP noted: "Eight years ago, the school's examination record was very poor, but for now the 'A's are collected just like snails."

He, therefore, challenged the incoming headmaster to uphold the mantle and ensure that subsequent examination results would be among the top 10 of the country.

The Rt Rev Col Paul Blewu (Rtd), the Bishop of the Akim Oda Diocese of the Methodist Church, said following the death of the then resident priest of the Akim Swedru Circuit of the Methodist Church in 2009, the Very Rev Donkor took over as the substantive Minister and he performed creditably in addition to other circuit and societal duties.

The Diocesan Methodist Bishop suggested a shift from the traditional stereo-type academic order to a more dynamic one imbued with creativity and talent development.

He also called on heads of schools to forge healthy working relationships with stakeholders, to help facilitate infrastructural and logistical advancement.

In a thanksgiving sermon, the Very Rev Donkor, 52, a native of Jukwa Mfuo in the Central Region, who has headed the school for seven years, noted that the communities' advancement were sometimes undermined by polarisation along chieftaincy lines, while almost every issue was politicised.

He advised chiefs in the community to regard their children's education as an investment which they must build to yield profit and urged them to provide their children with the needed educational materials to make the investment worthwhile, instead of indulging in protracted chieftaincy disputes.

The Very Rev Donkor, one-time Assistant Headmaster of Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast, asked Ghanaians to eschew insults, disrespect for chiefs and political leadership, coupled with intolerance of divergent opinions, to help promote teaching and learning.

According to him, in spite of the progress made by the school, it was still confronted with challenges and difficulties which demanded urgent attention and solutions.

He thanked the school and the church for their cooperation in the performance of his official duties in the Birim South District.

It was a moment of mixed feelings of, appreciation, joy and sorrow for well-wishers and observers when he accompanied the distinguished guests to inspect a guard of honour mounted by the Akim Swedru SHS's Military Cadet Corps at the forecourt of the church.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after the programme, Very Rev Donkor said he saw a steady growth in the West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results from 17.5 per cent passes in 2003, through 37 per cent passes, 85 per cent to the recent 96 per cent.

He noted that over 300 past students were in tertiary institutions to help provide quality manpower for national development.

Very Rev Donkor has been assigned to Koforidua as the headmaster of the Ghana Senior High School.

The Akyem Swedru Secondary School, established in 1970, has 1,840 students. hence the need to expand the infrastructural base of the school.

The school still needs structures for Information, Communication Technology (ICT) classrooms and bungalows, though three school buses, three staff bungalows, a 12-unit classroom block, two of six-unit classroom blocks and a six-unit classroom block under construction have been provided since 2004.

GNA