‘Address infrastructure needs of O’Reilly SHS’

The President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has directed the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund) to address the infrastructure needs of O’Reilly Senior High School (SHS) and ensure the early completion of the school’s ongoing projects.

President Mahama who gave the directive at the inauguration of a nine-unit classroom block for   O’Reilly SHS at Okpoi-Gonno in the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipality, on Saturday, pledged to use his good offices to ensure that the school becomes a first class senior high school in the country.

The nine-unit block has been named after the Presidential Advisor on National Security, Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, for singlehandedly financing the project and actively participating in its construction with a handful of workers in just 50 days.

President Mahama said it was an indictment on Ghanaians that a school as old as O’Reilly had been one of the most disadvantaged schools over the years.

“Now that the school has a permanent campus, the Ministry of Education and the GETfund Administrator will speed up completion of ongoing projects and other infrastructure that O’REISCO needs to become a first class SHS,” he said.

President Mahama indicated that the government would monitor the academic progress of the school to ensure that the investment being made was justified, and advised the students to strive for academic excellence.

He said the initiative by General Nunoo-Mensah showed that one person could make a difference in the lives of many, stressing that the government needed complementary efforts from individuals like Brigadier-General Nunoo-Mensah to advance the course of development.

He said the government would continue to allocate a bigger percentage of the nation’s budget to the education sector, and pointed out that the elimination of schools under trees was on course while the School Feeding Programme to meet the nutritional requirements of school children was being pursued.

President Mahama reiterated that the government would cut the sod for work to begin on the first 50 community senior high schools before the end of the year.

The Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, said when it became necessary for the school to relocate to its present settlement, the GETfund secretariat awarded a contract for the construction of an 18-unit classroom block and other academic facilities at the new premises.

Pledging that the government would continue to ensure quality and access to education, she commended Brig-Gen. Nunoo-Mensah “for the credible display of selflessness and empathy.”

The Headmistress, Mrs Mary Adu-Gyamfi, said the school still needed financial support to construct a dining hall and a kitchen to enable it to commence its boarding system, in addition to the rehabilitations of motorable roads to the school.

In his remarks, Brig-Gen. Nunoo-Mensah, who has been made the Development Chief of the school, with the title Nii Omanye Etmkete I, said he was moved by the plight of the students who studied in a non-congenial environment and therefore decided to help in executing the project in 50 days, adding that with discipline, challenges facing the nation could be easily overcome.

Present at the function were the British High Commissioner in Accra, Mr Peter Jones, the French Ambassador, Monsieur Frederick Clavier, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador James Victor Gbeho, ministers of state and directors of education.

By Musah Yahaya Jafaru/Daily Graphic/Ghana