Hope College to admit first SSS students in October

Gomoa Fetteh (C/R), May 2, GNA – The Hope Christian Academy of the Village of Hope Orphanage at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central Region is set to operate its senior high school, Hope College, with effect from October, this year.

Mr. Fred Asare, Managing Director, Village of Hope Group of Companies, announced this at Gomoa Fetteh on Tuesday at the eighth and seventh graduation ceremony of the nursery and junior high departments of the Hope Christian Academy at Gomoa Fetteh on Tuesday.

He, therefore, invited all well-wishers, parents and stakeholders to witness the opening day of the college on October 1, this year.

Mr Asare said the Hope Christian Academy scored 100 per cent in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) last year with 33 distinctions, saying products from the school were capable of competing with students from any top senior high school in the country.

He appealed to the Gomoa East District Assembly to fulfill its promise of offering scholarships to students from the academy who obtained distinctions in their BECE to enable them to pursue their careers to greater heights.

He expressed regret that appeals to both the governments of the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress (NDC) to offer scholarships to students from the academy were ignored, and hoped that this time round, the Gomoa East District Assembly would keep to its promise of assisting brilliant students from the academy.

In all, 67 junior high school and 28 kindergarten pupils were graduated to move on to the next levels of their education.

The theme for the ceremony was, “Reading and Writing: Key to Knowledge and Power”.

Mr. Asare told the GNA that the Village of Hope started as an orphanage in 1996 and began the school in 2002, adding that the first batch of students sat for the basic BECE in 2006, scoring lots of distinctions every year.

The Hope College, he said, would begin admitting students from all over the country in October but stressed that the college had facilities to admit 200 students in its boarding hostel.

In his keynote address, Mr. Percy Amo-Yankey, consultant and lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), and Knutsford University, Accra, expressed his gratitude to Mr. Asare for touching lives and giving hope to the hopeless.

He said what was being witnessed was a clear manifestation of what was written in Matthew Chapter 25 of the Bible, adding he had been touched by what he saw.

Speaking on the theme, Mr. Amo-Yankey told the students that the greatest gift they could ever receive was the passion for reading, saying they could make anything with reading and writing.

“An educated person is better equipped to handle all situations in life,” he stressed, adding that as children became literate, they could follow the world around them.

“Literacy is a significant step towards building better lives. Reading and writing therefore hold the key to knowledge and power,” he stressed.

He told them that, with the tools they had been provided with, they could make a difference anywhere they went, and advised them to take a cue from great personalities who rose from nowhere to attain celebrity status.

“You have to believe in yourselves. Your parents have played their part; your teachers have done a wonderful job. I want us all to go with the self-belief, saying 'Yes we can',” he added.

Referring to the projects undertaken by the Village of Hope, Mr. Amo-Yankey encouraged all individuals and corporate bodies to adopt this project and wished it could be replicated in all the regions of the country.

In a speech read for her, Mrs. Grace Adzo Obodai, District Director of Education, Gomoa East District, and Special Guest of Honour, said it was incumbent upon all to pursue literacy, especially in this era of the Information Communication Technology.

Mrs. Obodai urged parents to do all they could to provide the needs of their wards to make learning easy and fun, and on school administrators to improve on educational facilities to help achieve the aims of the Village of Hope orphanage.

She called on the students to read at least a book in a year.

Mr. Isaac Ahorlo Armah, District Chief Executive for Gomoa East, said it was the aim of the National Democratic Congress of President John Evans Atta Mills to improve education facilities in the country in line with its 'Better Ghana' agenda.

This, he noted, was why the government had constructed buildings for schools under trees and those with dilapidated structures, adding that other interventions were being put in place to make education affordable for all.

Mr. Armah commended the chief of Gomoa Fetteh, Nana Abor Yamoah II, for providing land for the Village of Hope for its projects.

He told the students they had to go beyond their present stage of education and achieve greater laurels.

Mr. Armah also stated that the Assembly had made provision for scholarship for high performing students to afford them the opportunity to gain admission to the university.

Nana Yamoah, referring to the theme for the graduation ceremony, was not happy with the unpreparedness of most Ghanaians to take to reading.

He stressed, however, that the theme was apt for the occasion, as all had much to learn from it.

Nana Yamoah entreated the graduating students not to be swollen headed but study harder to achieve greater laurels.

The academy presented prizes and certificates and undisclosed cash to staff of the academy who had distinguished themselves over the years while deserving students and pupils were presented with certificates and book prizes.

GNA