Accra High School on Saturday held its 96th Speech and Prize Giving Day with a call on all stakeholders in education to effectively play their various roles to help achieve quality education.
The colourful event, which was held on the theme: “Developing Senior High School (SHS) graduates for nation building: The role of stakeholders,” brought together past and present “Onukpai”, parents and teachers as well as head teachers of various second cycle institutions.
Speaking on the theme, Mrs Vivian Biney-Aidoo, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Arts at the Accra Technical University (ATC), said education was an essential human virtue and required the collective efforts of all stakeholders within the quality education delivery value chain to ensure excellence.
She noted that governments, parents, head teachers, teachers as well as both past and present students had huge and unparalleled roles to play towards the quality of education delivery in the country.
Touching on the role of the government, Mrs Biney-Aidoo said there was the need for government to provide policies on education, build and maintain educational infrastructure as well as remunerate educational workers.
On the role of teachers and head teachers, she said their roles could not be short-changed, stressing that “any compromise on the teachers’ part could derail any quality education system”.
On the role of parents, Mrs Biney-Aidoo urged parents to inculcate good values and develop a sound and moral character in their wards.
She further charged past students of the institution to support the activities of the schools and advised the students to be “studious and disciplined”.
Mrs Biney-Aidoo further called on the government to fix smart boards and other advanced technological tools in SHSs across the country to enhance education delivery in the classroom to aid in teaching and learning.
Mr Emmanuel Kobina Baidoo, Headmaster of the school, on his part said the introduction of the Free Senior High School (FSHS) policy and double track system had increased the school’s population from 1,400 to 2,600, adding that about 54 teachers had been posted to the school to augment the school’s current staff strength.
On the academic achievements of the school, he said more than half of the students excelled in all eight subjects especially mathematics saying, “This year the percentage of quality passes in mathematics skyrocketed from 17 per cent to slightly over 50 per cent.”
Additionally, Mr Baidoo announced that the government had officially handed over an 18-unit classroom block to the school, adding that a 12-unit classroom block was still under construction.
He appealed to the government and other stakeholders in education to help construct a boarding facility for the school to help accommodate students.
Mrs Monica Ankrah, Greater Accra Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service, in her remarks, advised the students to take their academic work seriously and make the best of the opportunity given to them through government’s FSHS policy.
BY ALLIA NOSHIE
