This move, according to him, is expected to address the furniture deficit in a number of schools as part of his administration’s commitment to dealing with the challenges in the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy.

[contextly_sidebar id=”apfJD2ndFmDIYEcUI9pYqAJCCmavElYV”]This comes on the back of reports highlighting challenges associated with the programme and intense criticism from members of the opposition.

Citi News recently reported about a situation at the Parkoso Community Day Senior High School in the Asokore Mampong Municipality of the Ashanti Region, where some students sat on the bare floor due to the lack of desks.

The President said furniture will also be supplied for dining halls, staff common rooms and computer laboratories while marker boards will be provided for the classrooms.

“We have taken that first step in Ghana and we should deal with the challenges. In dealing with them, tenders have already gone out and so contracts will be awarded for the provision of some 69,500 desks and some 13, 100 bunk beds. Additionally, tender documents have been issued for the supply of furniture for dining halls, staff rooms for teachers, computer laboratories and the provision of marker boards for classrooms,” Nana Addo said.

“Free SHS will ensure that all our children will be educated to at least secondary level and money or the lack of it will no longer mean a denial of education.  Already, the policy has led to an increase of 90,000 children who have entered senior high school this academic year who would have otherwise dropped out.”

President Akufo-Addo, who was a special guest at the 68th-Anniversary Speech and Prize-Giving Day of Prempeh College in Kumasi, also dismissed the criticism directed at the policy. saying it was here to stay.

“The politically-motivated propagandists and naysayers who in the last few years said free SHS was not possible and could happen after 20 years are now signing a new tune. They are now saying free SHS is not sustainable and will crash in 5 years. Let me burst their bubble again, free SHS is here to stay,” he said.

The President added that Government has secured a 40-million dollar loan from the World Bank under the Secondary Education improvement project to expand and upgrade facilities in 75 Senior High Schools across the country.

He said 42 senior high schools will also be upgraded to module school status.

“Under the Secondary Education Improvement Project, government has secured a 40 million US dollar loan from the World Bank for the expansion and upgrading of facilities in 75 Senior High Schools across the country. Construction works of the existing Community Day Senior High Day Schools are ongoing. Government will also upgrade 42 Senior High School into modern school status,” the President added.

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By: Hafiz Tijani/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The students say, the headmistress’ action was a deliberate attempt to prevent the teachers from fighting a sodomy case in the school.

Kwame Amponsah, a reporter with Kumasi-based Angel FM told Citi News, scores of students in the school went on rampage on Friday night, chanting battle songs.

The situation forced security officers to quickly move to the school and fire warning shots to disperse the angry students.

Some of the agitated students who spoke to the reporter called on the headmistress to immediately make public her reasons for the arbitrary transfer.

They lamented that the development will negatively affect their academic performance.

“We don’t know why the teachers have been transferred. The headmistress should come out and tell us. These teachers are all very helpful to us. If that is the case, she should rather leave so they can return because, the science students will be ones disadvantaged. These teachers actually help us compete in the National Science and Maths quiz.”

“We want the headmistress to come out and tell us exactly why she has transferred our teachers. All she did at assembly was to inform us that they were leaving, without any reason. We don’t want her here anymore. If we don’t hear from any of the authorities, we will all boycott class on Monday,” one of the angry students said.

According to Kwame Amponsah, calm had returned to the school on Saturday morning [November 26], but the students insist, they will stage another protest to challenge the headmistress’ decision.

Meanwhile, a teacher of the school who spoke to Citi News on condition of anonymity said moves have been initiated to assist the affected teachers pursue the matter in court.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

The post Konongo-Odumase SHS students want headmistress sacked appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Headmistress of the School, Mrs Joyce Acolatse said, a critical analysis of the WASSCE results revealed an excellent improvement in the performance of the students.

She added that, the School was voted as the overall best Senior High School in the Greater-Accra Region for 2015 by the Ghana Education Service ranking Awards Scheme and the achievement was based on hardworking and discipline of students, staff and management.

“Accra Girls Senior High School made it to the semi-finals of the 2016 Capital Market Week Competition for the Senior High Schools in the Region in October 2016. The National Investment Quiz organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission awarded certificates to our two contestants,” she said.

She noted that students show much interest in sports like handball, volleyball and basketball but there were no pitches to train on.

“This year, 500 students have been posted to the school and we are appealing to the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to come to our aid in providing boarding accommodation, expand the Assembly Hall, the Dining Hall and provide furniture to create a conducive teaching environment for the newly S.H.S 1 students”, she appealed.

Mrs Acolatse urged the old students of Accra Girls (AGOSA) to support the School in diverse ways to improve on the standards of the school and also appealed to the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive and the  Ghana Education Trust Fund to sponsor the dormitory block, which started in 2008.

The overall best students in various categories including overall best student in Geography, Business, Science, Mathematics and the overall best student in this year’s WASSCE were all awarded.

Other departments in the School like the Mathematics, Science and English Departments were also awarded for their tremendous work.

Ms Lankai Quarcoopome, an alumnus of the school (AGOSA ’76) and also the Guest Speaker, said, she strongly believed that each and every child has the right to basic and secondary education.

“We do believe that through quality education, we could make our lives better and also transform our nation and for this reason, we must insist on achieving very high academic and performance standards at all levels in the country.

“Each value will bring out the best in us allowing every student, teacher, and parent to share similar expectations of what students should know and be able to accomplish,” she noted.

Ms Quarcoopome added that students would learn more when more was expected of them, at home and in school.

She said Ghanaians must try to reach the target of reducing early school dropouts because education was paramount in shaping young people’s attitude and behavior in society.

According to Ms Quarcoopome, through education and training, young people would be better equipped to compete for jobs, become self-employed and contribute to the innovative and competitive world of the 21^st century and to that effect, the development of skills requires new creative ways of teaching, learning and inclusion of real life experiences of learning that includes practical and not theoretical.

She urged the students to participate in other school activities such as sports aside academic work, which could teach them to be good team players and very disciplined as she did when she was in school.

The Chair person for the occasion, Dr Doris Yaa Dartey, also an old student, urged the students to aim higher.

“As graduating students, I tell you that in some years to come, you will be standing where I am standing today and it takes good teachers to achieve that. Find a focus for your life and stay on it and you can shoot for the stars,” she said.

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Source: GNA

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