Ohene Djan Sports Stadium name reversed to Accra Sports Stadium
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), has reverted the name of Ohene Djan Sports Stadium to its original name of Accra Sports Stadium upon a resolution by the members of the Assembly.
This was due to the numerous petitions the Assembly received from the Ga-Dangbe Youth Association, the Ga Traditional Council and prominent Gas requesting it to change the name of the stadium.
Addressing heads of schools in the Metropolis on ending the shift system been practiced by some public schools in the area on Friday, Dr Alfred Vanderpuije, noted that stadia in the world were mostly not named after individuals.
He said that when basic schools reopen on September 14th, no school within the metropolis would operate the shift system and that all the 170,000 pupils within the Municipality, who run the shift system, had been assigned to physical structures to receive eight hours of quality teaching.
“The Assembly working with churches, heads of private schools and individual property owners have secured enough structures and in some cases built temporary ones to be used as classrooms for the education of our children,” Dr Vanderpuije said.
He appealed to heads of schools to report to school on September 11 to prepare their schools and display the list of schools been transferred to other sites and also receive new furniture.
Dr Vanderpuije announced that schools within the metropolis would be opened to parents and pupils on September 13th.
He said that pupils must report to their current schools so that those who had been reassigned to new locations would be led to their new sites by their teachers.
Dr Vanderpuije said that the assembly had requested for the services of 200 National Youth Employment Personnel teaching assistants to support teachers in schools.
He appealed to the sub metros within AMA to assist the Officers in Charge and schools with announcements on the ending of the shift system and to inform parents to visit their new schools to familiarize themselves with arrangements put in place.
Dr Vanderpuije expressed concern about the high level of hawking activities within the Metropolis and the use of school going children for begging and as drivers’ mates.
He also announced a decision by the AMA to give back to the Ga Traditional Council, the Accra Community Centre, which was built for the Ga State by the defunct United Trading Company (UAC), located at High Street for the hosting of social activities in the Metropolis.
Dr Vanderpiuje said “The AMA over the past years have taken over the Community Centre for its use in view of concerns being raised by people of the Ga State to have their own Community Centre for social activities”.
In a message read on his behalf, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, Minister of Education, praised the AMA for the bold initiative to end the shift system in schools in the Metropolis.
“Within the Assembly’s resolve to create “A new Accra for a better Ghana”, the Assembly has mounted strategies to remove all obstacles in the way of solving the problems associated with the shift system,” he said.
The Minister praised the AMA for the decision to construction about new schools blocks aimed at ending the shift system and urged other Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to emulate the AMA.
Mr Laud Tackie Commey, Member of Parliament for Odododiodio Constituency, expressed worry about the shift system, which according to him had enabled pupils to play truancy that was a source of worry to parents and teachers.
Source: GNA