Services School Is 70 Years

The Services Primary and Junior High School, at Burma Camp, Friday, launched its 70th Anniversary celebration to unite its students with the alumni to inspire them to study hard to become responsible citizens and national achievers.

The programme, held at the School, was also used as a platform to sensitise the alumni on their expected roles to make the celebration, which will climax in October 2018, a success. The Anniversary Cloth was also unveiled at the event.

The activities include an exhibition on the mode of dressing by students from 1948 till date; a dancing competition, sports, and cultural performances.

Ms Ernestina Nyarko, the Headmistress of the School, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, explained that the 'Gye Nyame motif', an Adinkra symbol signifying the Omnipotence of God in the cloth, was in recognition of the sustenance of the School and the laurels chalked over the years.

She commended the parents of the students for contributing immensely to the development of their wards, saying that, 'It is not by magic that we excel in our academic performances, but it is the fruits of the commitment by parents in the Services School'.

She emphasised that the parents were co-teachers and so they put teachers on their toes to ensure that they worked effectively and efficiently to safeguard discipline.

Ms Nyarko explained that the students only paid a minimal amount as a levy for the running of the School, in terms of the maintenance of sanitation and support in the payment of electricity and water bills, but they did not pay fees.

The School is open to children of Military personnel, civilians working with the Military, as well as those of civilians.

Naval Captain Dr Kamal-Deen Ali, the Chairman of the Parent Teacher Association, (PTA) told the GNA in an interview that, the School provided all the good quality services typical of public schools, alongside the academic excellence that first cycle private schools were noted for delivering.

'The School exposes the children to different kinds of people, culture and backgrounds and provides the platform for them to be nurtured to become well-cultured'.

Dr Ali said even though the School had challenges with infrastructure, there had been significant improvements with the support of the PTA.

He urged Non Governmental Organisations and institutions that had the will to support a School to prioritise the Services School because the support would yield fruitful results in the lives of the students.

'I wish to advice parents to get involved actively in the Schools of their wards to monitor their progress and behaviours,' he said.

'It is also important for parents to identify how they can be of help to the schools to be able to support them'.

The Services Primary and Junior High School was established in 1948 by the Joint British, Pakistani and Canadian Military Services to educate their children

when they worked in the Gold Coast.
However, in the early 1950s, they opened the School to the children of Ghanaian Military personnel, who could afford the fees to enrol their children.

Upon political independence in 1957, the Ghana Education Service took over the running of the School, with Mrs Alberta Quartey, becoming its first Ghanaian head.