Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has commended the Konongo Odumase Senior High School Old Students Association (Anuanom) for establishing an endowment fund targeted at raising GH¢75 million to support their alma mater and its surrounding basic schools.
According to the ex-president the willingness of the Anuanom to extend support to basic schools within the Asante Akyem area, Ashanti Region, was laudable considering the fact that most people only focused on giving their alma mater alone the needed support when endowment funds are set up.
He made the commendation when members of the planning committee of the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Konongo Odumase Senior High School (KOSS) paid a courtesy call on him at his residence in Peduase, Eastern Region last Monday.
The move was to officially invite the former statesman to the anniversary which has been slated for February 25 this year.
The group was led by the president of the old students association of KOSS, Nana Odeneho Kwaku Kyeremanteng.
Mr Kufuor said “I am amazed by your decision to include basic schools within the Asante Akyem catchment area, where KOSS is located, in your plans. Your focus on Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education is also good so I encourage you to keep up the good work because education should not just be free but of good quality,” he added.
Preparing the foundation well for pupils before they reach the senior high school (SHS) level, he noted, was highly necessary.
Explaining further, the ex-president urged the Anuanom fraternity to continue to exhibit selflessness while carrying out their plans to continuously support their alma mater and education within the KOSS catchment area.
The former president also assured that he would grace the KOSS 70th anniversary celebration as a way of endorsing their initiatives which focused solely on supporting government’s agenda of providing affordable and quality education to Ghanaians.
“I am impressed by the level of commitment shown by the Anuanom with regards to education in Asante Akyem so I will be present on the day of the anniversary celebrations to offer my support,” he added.
President of the Anuanom, Nana Odeneho Kwaku Kyeremanteng, on his part said the board of trustees of the endowment fund took into consideration, the high number of basic schools within the Asante Akyem Central, North and South municipalities which needed support, assuring that such schools would also benefit immensely from the fund.
He called for more support from capable individuals and organisations to support the country’s educational sector.
“The public educational sector should not be left just like that because such schools carry many children, so it behooves on all of us to support government provide the necessary resources to schools. Education lifts people from poverty so we cannot strive for development if we neglect the educational sector,” he stressed.
Chairman, board of trustees for the KOSS endowment fund, Reverend Samson K. Boafo, thanked the statesman for accepting the invitation.
Headmaster of KOSS, Dr Benjamin Baah, said academic performance of his students kept improving by year, attributing the success to the dedicated staff, certain initiatives by government and the Anuanom fraternity.
He also revealed that Nana Odeneho Kyeremanteng had already contributed an amount of GH¢100,000.00 to the endowment fund saying “this move alone shows that the Anuanom fraternity means business.”
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
