Mad rush for admissions at Mafi-Kumase SSTS

The Mafi-Kumase Secondary Technical Senior High School (STSHS) in the Central Tongu District has become one of the most attractive institutions in the Volta region, following the decision of parents to send their wards there due to the first class infrastructure and the various scholarship schemes available to students.

The school, established in 1983, has so far increased enrollment from 400 to 722 within a short period of time, and the school authorities have projected that by the end of the year, enrollment would possibly increase to over one thousand.

This is because parents were still seeking admission for their wards to enable them benefit from quality education being offered in a serene educational environment with scholarships that were difficult to be assessed in other second cycle institutions in the region and the country in general.

Addressing the media at Mafi-Kumase, the Head master of the School, Courage Meteku said STSHS is one of the fastest growing institutions in terms of student population with the modest infrastructure that made the school to stand tall among other establishments in the region.

Mr. Meteku said as a boarding school, it has dormitories for both boys and girls, dining hall and kitchen complex under construction, in addition to 12 unit two storey building classrooms.

Continuing, Mr. Meteku explained that what distinguished the Mafi-Kumase STSHS from other schools was not only the sound educational environment, but also the available educational support such as the Northern Scholarship, Merit Scholarship and Hardship Scholarship, which were being offered to deserving students admitted into the school.

The Headmaster further explained that students who gained admission into the school from the Northern region of the country with one or both parents being Northerners qualify to enjoy the Northern Scholarship scheme, stressing that the hardship Scholarship was made available for parents who found it extremely difficult to pay the fees of their wards.

He also pointed out that the Merit Scholarship was meant for the best five students who performed creditably in each of the programmes being offered in the school, which include Agriculture, General Science, Visual Arts, General Arts, and Vocational and Technical courses among others.

Mr. Meteku continued that the school authorities have also embarked upon an enrollment drive in the catchment area to create awareness of the numerous opportunities available for parents to take advantage of, to reduce the cost involved in financing the education of their wards at the secondary level.

He posited that the school authorities visit churches to educate parents to take advantage of the scholarship facilities to send their wards to school and avoid the situation where qualified students don't get admission because parents prefer their wards to school in towns and cities.

Mr. Meteku called on parents both within and outside the region to send their wards to the Mafi-Kumase STSHS to enable them to benefit from the available scholarships to help reduce the cost involved in supporting their children in secondary schools; stressing “the opportunities are here and you need to take advantage of them now”.

He also charged students to make maximum use of the opportunities available to them to educate themselves by learning hard because education was the only key to both social and economic development of every society, hence the need to justify the investment government and their parents were making in them adding that parents should consider education as the best legacy that they could leave behind for their wards.

The Headmaster said the school performs creditably in the areas of academic as it scored one hundred percent in the previous examinations, adding it also gained recognition in extracurricular activities in areas such as choral music and sports.

He appealed to individuals, groups and NGOs interested in education to help build a standard football field complex for the school.

Mr. Meteku mentioned high water and electricity bills as major problems confronting the school authorities and appealed to NGOs, old students and philanthropists to come to the aid of the school by providing two mechanized boreholes for the boys and girls dormitories which would help reduce the high cost of water bills that posed serious financial problem to the school.

He lauded the efforts of the Parents and Teacher Association (PTA) of the school for the numerous contributions towards the development of the school including the current dining hall being used among others as well as chiefs and people of Mafi stressing that the school has enough land for development and currently the PTA is building fence wall to prevent encroachment on the school land.

From Samuel Agbewode, Mafi-Kumase