Erratic power supply affects academic work — St John’s Grammar headmaster
The Headmaster of St John’s Grammar Senior High School, Mr Emmanuel Ofoe Fiemawhle, has appealed to the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to liaise with the Ministry of Energy to supply prompt and adequate electricity power to the school.
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According to him, the erratic electricity power supply to the school on a daily basis has caused it to run on half-day and half-night basis.
He said the school also spent GH¢12,400 per month on electricity and that was affecting administrative and academic activities, and appealed to the government to intervene to save them.
Mr Fiemawhle was speaking at the school’s 60th anniversary celebration at the weekend in Accra.
“The stark reality is that fees meant for teaching and learning activities are channelled into the payment of this huge electricity bill and soon the school will be plunged into perpetual darkness due to lack of funds, if something urgent is not done,” he stressed.
Instances of robbery on campus
The headmaster cited instances where certain individuals sneaked onto the school compound to steal various items from the students’ dormitories and some bungalows during blackouts, and accused the Achimota branch of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for deliberately placing the entire school on one prepaid metre despite an earlier agreement with the school to give separate metres to all the bungalows and dormitories on campus.
Mr Fiemawhle added that it was unfortunate that the ECG had refused to recognise public schools as purely public service and not an avenue to make profit, hence their carefree treatment of the school.
Infrastructural development
While celebrating 60 years as a school, the headmaster noted that it had not seen much development in infrastructure, and added that structures which were constructed 60 years ago for about 500 students continued to provide the same service to nearly 2000 students.
With the current development projects going on, he said he was hopeful that things would change for the better.
Theme of celebration
Speaking on the theme, “Sixty years of hard work - a platform for greater heights,” the Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof Otoo Ellis, said with the advent of technology, especially social media, there was the need for the school to take advantage and focus on quality and relevance.
Prof Otoo Ellis, who is also a past student of the school, challenged the students and the entire administration to aim high and endeavour to achieve a lot for themselves and the nation.
Minister of Education
The Minister of Education, Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, said quality education delivery was the responsibility of the government in partnership with all Ghanaians, noting that all must play their roles to ensure the success of education in the country.
She appealed to traditional leaders, religious bodies, civil society organisations and all stakeholders to play their part to raise the standards of education in Ghana.
Prof Opoku-Agyemang stated that Ghana had a good educational system, and said: “Our products have achieved many feats in all levels of endeavours, both within and outside the country.”
