Accra High School holds 96th Speech and Prize Giving Day

Accra, Dec 09, GNA - Accra High School in the Greater Accra region has held its 96th Speech and Prize Giving Day, with a call on stakeholders to collaborate their efforts and support the school to expand its infrastructure base to address growing students population.

The school which was founded in 1923 currently has a student population of about 2,600 and offers six courses: General Science, Business, Technical, Home Economics, General Arts and Visual Arts.

Mr Emmanuel Kobina Baidoo, the Headmaster of the school in an address said even though the school recently received an 18-unit classroom block from the government, with another 12-units currently under construction, accommodating the ever growing students population remained a challenge for the school.

"The lack of boarding facility at the school contributes to the lateness of students to school, therefore, we believe that when our students stay and study on our campus under the supervision of our teachers their academic performance will greatly improve.

"I therefore appeal passionately to the government and other stakeholders in education to put up a boarding facility for the school to accommodate students who come from far to school every day. The school's expectation has always been that parents, guardians and the community as a whole will play complementary roles in this regard," he added.

He also appealed to government to construct extra flats for staff to augment the already existing ones to enable it to accommodate more staff in order to deliver on its mandate.

As part of efforts to improve on security on campus, he said the management installed security lights in and around the school premises to provide illumination and check unusual activities in the school, especially at night.

Mrs Vivian Biney-Aidoo, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Arts, Accra Technical University (ATU) on her part, urged government to consider furnishing Senior High Schools across the country with smart boards and projectors to enhance teaching and learning.

Speaking as the guest of honour under the theme: "Developing the SHS Graduate for Nation Building: the Role of Stakeholders." she said the mode of teaching and learning had changed as a result of improved technology, adding that, this, when done would enable teachers to collaborate to share ideas and resources through online communication, refine their lesson notes to ensure they delivered the best to students and develop lesson notes into proper peer-reviewed textbooks.

"Students can also be assisted to deliver valuable research skills through the availability of information that relate to their courses of study. This way, the adoption and application of educational technologies can be properly harnessed to significantly improve student achievement," she added.

She explained that with the increase in students’ enrollment across SHS and the demand for quality education, there was also the need for government to recruit new breed of teachers with skills in handling large class sizes, computer literate, abreast with trends of the modern era and who could demonstrate commitment and dedication to quality output.

"There is also the need to expand access to accommodate large numbers of students who are enrolling for SHS education as a result of the implementation of the FSHS policy," she added.

Ms Monica Ankrah, the Greater Accra Regional Director of Ghana Education Service entreated students to take advantage of the FSHS policy to secure their future and to contribute their quota towards national development.

The ceremony also had in attendance Nii Ayitey Kane I, Kaneshie Mantse and some Heads of sister schools across the country.

GNA