St. Louis SHS marks 60th Anniversary
Ernest Best Anane
THE SAINT Louis Senior High School in Kumasi has observed its 60 th Anniversary with a call on the government to help improve infrastructural facilities in the school.
Mrs. Theresah A. Commeh, Headmistress of the school, in her speech at the ceremony, indicated that the school had achieved a lot in the past 60 years, and noted that in academics, the school, which was founded by Sisters of St. Louis from Ireland in 1952 with 12 girls following the vision to train girls, now runs programmes such as Science, General Arts, Business and Vocational.
The Rev. Sisters insisted on values such as obedience, cleanliness, honesty, and a deep sense of responsibility, which she said, had helped in the training of a number of prominent personalities in Ghana today.
According to her, the school had all these years excelled in its West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).
In 2008, the school emerged the best in West Africa, and obtained 100% passes in almost all the subjects in subsequent years.
She further indicated that in the field of sports, the school had a number of times won the Inter-School Athletics Competition, Best Behaved Award, and commended the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), guardians, teachers and non-teaching staff for their immersed collective contributions and efforts towards these feats.
In spite of these achievements, the Headmistress said the school was faced with some challenges, and mentioned that it had no assembly hall, and that the science laboratory, which was built in the 1950s, had since not seen any seen no renovation work.
She complained that even though the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund) initiated the construction of a science laboratory and assembly hall some years ago, they were yet to be completed.
Mrs. Commeh further noted that the school had no field for sporting activities, which situation, she said was affecting the Physical Education Department of the school.
Other problems the school faces include inadequate water supply, pointing to the need to build an overhead reservoir to supply water to all the dormitories and staff bungalows.
The Headmistress appealed to the government to construct staff accommodation, since about 70% of them live outside the school compound.
The Guest Speaker, Mrs. Elizabeth Tetteh-Amoah, Deputy Minister of Education, commended the school for its tremendous effort over the years in training more professionals towards national building.
She noted that as a nation, we should focus on the education of our future leaders who are to take the mantle from those in authority.
According to her, the school continues to excel in the WAEC Examinations, and attributed it to the enviable efforts of the teachers, and urged them to continue the good work.
Oheneba Adusei Poku, Akyempimhene of Kumasi, who represented Otumfuo as the Guest of Honour, also commended the school for its efforts in contributing to nation-building through the training of excellent students.
He acknowledged the challenges of the school, saying they were really undeniable, and gave the assurance of collaboration between the traditional authorities, the Catholic Church and the government to provide the necessary support.