Thursday, December 2, 2010

OKUAPEMAN SHS PROVIDES MORE FACILITIES (PAGE 38, NOV 29, 2010)

THE management of the Okuapeman Senior High School (SHS) at Akropong-Akuapem, one of the best second-cycle educational institutions in the region, has provided the necessary infrastructural amenities, especially dormitories and classrooms for students.
Other amenities provided are 350 dual beds, 500 mono desks and 120 dining hall benches.
The facilities, worth thousands of Ghana cedis, were funded from the school’s resources with the support of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), which also provided unspecified sums of money.
The situation has made it possible for the school’s current student population of 2,114 to have decent sleeping places and classrooms to study in a congenial atmosphere.
Such an initiative which was taken by the Headmaster, Mr Felix Essah-Hienno, won the admiration of parents at a PTA meeting last weekend.
Before the commencement of the academic year, the Okuapeman SHS like any other second-cycle educational institution, did not have the required dormitories and classrooms to take care of first year students due to the extension of the SHS duration from three to four years.
Although the government has engaged a contractor to put up the vital facilities, especially a classroom block, work on the project was at a standstill, so the school administration with the support of the PTA, had to work around the clock to provide additional classrooms and dormitories.
“We have to use the school’s limited financial resources together with funds from the PTA to put up additional classrooms and dormitories for the students, so all of them are comfortably accommodated and classes are going on normally,” Mr Essah-Hienno told members of the PTA.
According to him, the extension of the SHS from three to four years required that additional facilities such as classroom blocks and dormitories should be provided.
The headmaster stated that although the government did its best by awarding contracts for the construction of the facilities, especially a classroom block, work on it was not progressing as expected.
He said his administration therefore had to use its meagre resources together with additional funds from the PTA to provide more structures to accommodate the students in a congenial atmosphere.
Mr Essah-Hienno’s development programme was hailed by parents present at the meeting as most of them praised him for taking such a bold decision, which had prevented a situation where first year students had to sleep on the floor as in the case of some schools in the country.
The chairman of the PTA, Mr James Fokuo, said additional facilities such as KVIP places of convenience and water tanks would soon be provided for the school, and appealed to parents for support.

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