Prioritise education of your children – First Lady advises parents
The First Lady of the Republic, Mrs. Ernestina Naadu Mills, has called on parents to make the education of their children their priority and make it a pledge to keep.
She said when children are sent to school, they will grow into responsible adults who will be of benefit to not only their communities but the nation at large.
The First Lady made the call at the 10th Anniversary and Third Speech and Prize-giving day of Efutu Senior High Technical School (ESTS) under the theme: “Improving infrastructure in community schools: the role of stakeholders”, on Saturday.
She announced that ESTS will soon have its share of the 6-unit classroom block being constructed by Government for all Senior High Schools across the country in addition to the School’s on-going 18-unit classroom block.
Mrs. Mills said the Government will continue to provide quality educational infrastructure for schools in the country.
She advised the students to be disciplined and studious and not see themselves as inferior because with determination and hard work, they will attain higher heights.
In his report, the Headmaster of ESTS, Mr. Johnny Nartey pointed out that though the school had been in existence for a short period, it has a population of about 1261 and has provided quality education to the youth within the area and beyond.
He said the school recorded 70% passes in the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2009 as against the previous year’s 60%, with the overall best scoring 5As and 3Bs.
He noted that many products of the school are in tertiary institutions with most of them graduating and occupying key positions in several sectors of the economy.
According to Mr. Nartey, though the school has no proper training grounds, it has excelled in sporting activities.
He however outlined some challenges of the school as inadequate girls’ and boys’ dormitories and staff accommodation, lack of a science laboratory, technical workshop, an assembly hall, inadequate library facility and the need for a bigger school bus.
He said due to inadequate staff accommodation, only one resident female teacher takes care of over 400 girls with three male staff taking care of over 400 boys while other members of staff have to commute daily from Cape Coast to supervise students in the boarding house.
The Headmaster said the school currently has only 50 computers which were donated by an NGO saying they were woefully inadequate for huge student population.
He appealed to the Government, stakeholders and philanthropists to come to the aid of the school in order to create a better learning environment for the students.
Source: GNA