Solomon Bennett Memorial School celebrates academic excellence

Mr. Samuel Bennett presenting scrolls to graduands of Kiddies Paradise, looking on is the Sunyani East MP, Kwasi Ameyaw Cheremeh and other dignataries

The Solomon Bennett Memorial School (SBMS), a privately-owned basic school in Sunyani, has held its maiden graduation ceremony, after putting up a very impressive academic performance in the 2011 Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE).

The school has been ranked one of the best schools in the Sunyani Municipality, after recording hundred percent results, by the pioneers of the school.

All the seventeen students, who sat for the 2011 BECE had aggregates six, with almost all the students scoring grade one in all the subjects.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sunyani East, Mr. Kwasi Ameyaw Cheremeh, who was the Guest of Honour, noted that quality education was measured by the output of an educational institution, indicating that the results achieved by the SBMS in the 2011 BECE showed that quality education was being pursued in the school.

With such excellent results, Mr. Cheremeh concluded that products of SBMS would never add to the children on the streets of Ghana, but rather have better chances to continue their education and end up pursuing professions of their choices.

He stated that the provision of quality and affordable education was the surest way of eliminating the phenomenon of street children in Ghana.

He stated that the future of Ghana today, lay in quality education, noting that the provision of quality education was a collective responsibility, and required concerted efforts by the government, private sector, parents, and all responsible persons in the country.

The Sunyani East MP commended the Proprietress, Ms. Grace Sheila Bennett, for complementing the government's efforts in providing education to children of this country, and the management and staff for their support, which had culminated in achieving such a feat.

Impressed with the stage performances of the kids from Kiddies Paradise School, Mr. Cheremeh was convinced that the teachers of both the Kiddies Paradise and SBMS were not just teaching the children, but also exposing them to the outside world, maintaining that 'with the sound and solid foundation being built for the children, the superstructure that will be built on the foundation will not be shaken.'

The Executive Chief Director of Kiddies Paradise and SBMS, Ms. Bennett, indicated that her inspiration for establishing both schools had laconically been captured in the schools' motto, 'Action, Not Words.'

'As an educational institution, it has always been our desire to offer holistic education to children, not only in words, but also in action,' she said, explaining that since they believed implementation was the key to success, the management and staff of the school had always sought to implement every policy, plan, programme and systems that seek to promote the educational agenda of our dear nation Ghana.

Ms. Bennett said: 'Our dream is to make quality education available to all, which we believe is a very strong key to excellence in life.'

She prayed that the management and both teaching and non-teaching staff would work harder in collaboration 'to sustain this enviable record and standard set by our pioneers.'

Ms. Bennett thanked the management, staff of the school, parents, the students and all who had contributed in diverse ways towards the forward march of the schools.

With the support of the management team, the school stands tall in terms of infrastructure, transport services, environmental cleanliness, teacher motivation, healthy working environment, and above all, impressive academic performance, as is evidenced in the recent BECE results.

Like the mustard seed, the Proprietress started with Kiddies Paradise, a crèche, and now a continuation as the Solomon Bennett Memorial School, a primary and junior high school with boarding facilities.

The magnificence of the infrastructure, and the presence of modern teaching and learning facilities, coupled with the serenity of the SBMS's premises, provides a conducive environment for effective teaching and learning.

The ceremony, which also marked the 9th graduation ceremony of Kiddies Paradise, was themed, 'Quality Education can only be built on a better Foundation.'

Touching on the theme, a retired Director of Education, Mrs. Beatrice A. Prempeh, underscored the need to prepare kids adequately, through play and other activity methods to enable them become familiar with the classroom situation before entering primary school, noting that without a good foundation from the pre-school level, children would always find primary school work difficult.

She, therefore, commended the proprietress of Kiddies Paradise and SBMS, as well as all other school proprietors in the country, for their foresight and assistance to the Ghanaian society in preparing our children adequately for future life, right from the beginning.

Mrs. Prempeh congratulated the pioneers of SBMS, and praised them for setting the pace, and hoped the rest of the students would emulate the steps.