Government to build more classrooms this year
THE government is to construct 1,000 school blocks this year and additional 2,000 next year to eliminate schools under trees in the country.
The Vice-president, Mr John Dramani Mahama, said the government had already built 1,500 school blocks last year.
This will bring to 4,500 the total number of school blocks needed to phase out schools under trees throughout the country, he said and stressed that “no child will study under trees by the end of 2012”.
He was speaking at the 84th Speech and Prize-giving/Founders Day of the Krobo Girls’ Presbyterian Senior High School on Saturday. Prizes were given to deserving students and teachers at the event.
The school, which was established by Scottish missionaries in 1927, has produced prominent citizens and now has a student population of 1,600.
Mr Mahama noted that the achievement of accelerated growth in every country, “depends on human capital”.
Therefore, he said, the government was committed to creating a conducive atmosphere for teaching and learning and allocating substantial funds to the education sector.
Mr Mahama said the government had achieved 85 per cent coverage in the distribution of free uniforms, and indicated that it would achieve 100 per cent coverage by the end of March, this year.
Thereafter, he said, the government would start the next wave of distribution of free school uniforms.
The Vice-president said the Mills administration had increased the capitation grant by 50 per cent and intensified the distribution of free exercise books.
It had also diversified school feeding programme and restored the confidence of donors who had stopped funding the programme due to reported cases of financial malfeasance in the management of the programme.
Consequently, he said, the donors had declared their intention “to make funds available” to support the school feeding programme.
Mr Mahama said the government had started giving bursaries to students, especially females who opted for science and technology-based courses.
Besides, the government had increased financial support for infrastructural development in schools under the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).
For instance, he said, the Krobo Girls’ Presbyterian Senior High School had benefited from the construction of an assembly hall complex, a headmistress’s bungalow, a 21-unit classroom block and an access road.
Mr Mahama condemned the stereotyping of female students and stressed the need for the society to open up career space for them to broaden their horizon.
“We have to break up the stereotype. The maths, physics and information technology are not for boys alone. They are also for girls”, he said.
“Women are not just born to be secretaries, teachers and nurses. They can be managers, doctors and headmistresses”, he stressed.
Mr Mahama commended the teachers for their contribution to the improvement of academic performance in the school and asked them to keep it up.
The Headmistress of the school, Ms Cecilia Obenewa Appiah, noted that although the school had achieved some academic successes over the years, it still faced a myriad of challenges.
She said the lack of a fence wall made it possible for people living around the school to have a thoroughfare through the compound, the inadequate space of the school’s library, which takes only 20 students at a time, inadequate classrooms and the absence of Internet facility at the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) laboratory as some of the challenges facing the school.
Ms Appiah said due to the increased student population, the current classroom blocks were over-stretched and students had to take over the visitors lounge built by the Students Representative Council (SRC), dining hall and any available space for a classroom which were not convenient for academic purposes.
She, however, expressed gratitude to the government, the Ghana Education Service (GES), GETFund and the school’s Parent-Teacher Association for their contribution towards the infrastructural development of the school.
The School Prefect, Ms Joyce Okyerewa Danso, said the school’s academic record had improved as a result of hard work and discipline by the teachers and students.
The Konor of Manya Krobo, Nene Sakite II, who chaired the occasion, stressed the need for the students to be serious with their studies since that was the only way they could become responsible citizens.
The Vice-president, Mr John Dramani Mahama, said the government had already built 1,500 school blocks last year.
This will bring to 4,500 the total number of school blocks needed to phase out schools under trees throughout the country, he said and stressed that “no child will study under trees by the end of 2012”.
He was speaking at the 84th Speech and Prize-giving/Founders Day of the Krobo Girls’ Presbyterian Senior High School on Saturday. Prizes were given to deserving students and teachers at the event.
The school, which was established by Scottish missionaries in 1927, has produced prominent citizens and now has a student population of 1,600.
Mr Mahama noted that the achievement of accelerated growth in every country, “depends on human capital”.
Therefore, he said, the government was committed to creating a conducive atmosphere for teaching and learning and allocating substantial funds to the education sector.
Mr Mahama said the government had achieved 85 per cent coverage in the distribution of free uniforms, and indicated that it would achieve 100 per cent coverage by the end of March, this year.
Thereafter, he said, the government would start the next wave of distribution of free school uniforms.
The Vice-president said the Mills administration had increased the capitation grant by 50 per cent and intensified the distribution of free exercise books.
It had also diversified school feeding programme and restored the confidence of donors who had stopped funding the programme due to reported cases of financial malfeasance in the management of the programme.
Consequently, he said, the donors had declared their intention “to make funds available” to support the school feeding programme.
Mr Mahama said the government had started giving bursaries to students, especially females who opted for science and technology-based courses.
Besides, the government had increased financial support for infrastructural development in schools under the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).
For instance, he said, the Krobo Girls’ Presbyterian Senior High School had benefited from the construction of an assembly hall complex, a headmistress’s bungalow, a 21-unit classroom block and an access road.
Mr Mahama condemned the stereotyping of female students and stressed the need for the society to open up career space for them to broaden their horizon.
“We have to break up the stereotype. The maths, physics and information technology are not for boys alone. They are also for girls”, he said.
“Women are not just born to be secretaries, teachers and nurses. They can be managers, doctors and headmistresses”, he stressed.
Mr Mahama commended the teachers for their contribution to the improvement of academic performance in the school and asked them to keep it up.
The Headmistress of the school, Ms Cecilia Obenewa Appiah, noted that although the school had achieved some academic successes over the years, it still faced a myriad of challenges.
She said the lack of a fence wall made it possible for people living around the school to have a thoroughfare through the compound, the inadequate space of the school’s library, which takes only 20 students at a time, inadequate classrooms and the absence of Internet facility at the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) laboratory as some of the challenges facing the school.
Ms Appiah said due to the increased student population, the current classroom blocks were over-stretched and students had to take over the visitors lounge built by the Students Representative Council (SRC), dining hall and any available space for a classroom which were not convenient for academic purposes.
She, however, expressed gratitude to the government, the Ghana Education Service (GES), GETFund and the school’s Parent-Teacher Association for their contribution towards the infrastructural development of the school.
The School Prefect, Ms Joyce Okyerewa Danso, said the school’s academic record had improved as a result of hard work and discipline by the teachers and students.
The Konor of Manya Krobo, Nene Sakite II, who chaired the occasion, stressed the need for the students to be serious with their studies since that was the only way they could become responsible citizens.
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