‘Let’s create more opportunities for girls’ education’
The Founder and Executive Director of the Salt and Light Ministries, Rev Dr Joyce Aryee, has stressed the need for governmental and non-governmental organisations and individuals committed to the education of girls to collaborate with the government in creating more opportunities to enhance girls’ education.
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"Let girls have the benefit of education. Harness their full potential for the development of the country," she said.
Speaking at the 65th Speech and Prize-giving Day of the St Mary's Senior High School in Accra on Saturday, Rev Dr Aryee urged the government to harness the potential of girls since they have equal capabilities as men, to contribute to the nation’s development.
The all-girls school has 752 students, comprising 600 borders and 152 day students.
The programmes offered in the school are General Science, General Arts, Visual Arts and Home Economics.
Prizes were given to students who had excelled in the various programmes at the school.
Women’s population
Rev. Dr Aryee, who is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, said considering the fact that women constituted more than half of the nation’s population, relegating them to the background would mean that more than half of the population was not involved in development, and that would negatively impact on the nation’s development.
She also said women had the responsibility of raising children, and indicated that empowered women were in a better position to impart their knowledge and skills to their children.
Other speakers
The Director and Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Sunseekers Tours and Sunlodge Hotel, Mrs Jacquie Obeng-Ansong, charged parents to assume the primary responsibility of instilling discipline in their children.
She said it was wrong for parents to leave the whole training of their children to teachers.
In her report, the Headmistress of the school, Ms Doris Ama Bramson, expressed worry at the failure of some parents to collaborate with the school to discipline their children, and said the school authorities would work more efficiently in the areas of teaching and instructions to improve on the performance of students in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).
Ms Bramson lauded the old students association of the school for its contribution towards the facelift of the school’s infrastructure.
She mentioned the lack of accommodation for teachers, a library and a short wall around the school as some of the challenges facing the school.
She therefore appealed to the government to support the school to put up teachers' bungalows and a library, and raise the wall.
Ms Bramson said the school would introduce business programmes when the new six-unit classroom block being constructed by the government was handed over to the school authorities.
The Senior Prefect of the school, Ms Lawrencia Tsotso, appealed to the government and other stakeholders to support the school with a plant to enable the students to have light for studies whenever their electric power went off.
In another development, the 1990/1992 year group of the St Mary’s Old Girls Association (SMOGA) has refurbished the St Theresa’s House, one of the old dormitory blocks, at the cost of GHc89,000.00 to provide a comfortable living environment for the students, writes Adwoa Amofa Osei, ACCRA.
At a handover ceremony held in Accra on Sunday, the President of the group, Mrs Naa Afi Quarcoopome, said the group saw the need to give back to the school as a result they had become successful because of the training they received from the school.
“We are what we are today because of the training we received when we were here”.
Appeal to other year groups
She pleaded with other year groups to also take up the responsibility of renovating the first and second floors of the old dormitory block so that the students could learn in a hygienic and serene environment.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, some of the students said the place was in a terrible condition and that they could not use the bathrooms because of its bad state.
Students assessment
“We could not use the bathrooms due to the state they were in so they were locked up. There were no lockers in the rooms so we had to hang our clothes by our beds and the doors could not be locked”, they said in separate interviews.
They were excited that the refurbished St Theresa’s House would offer them a much better environment to study and carry out their daily activities in the school.
Headmistress’ appreciation
The Headmistress of the school, Ms Doris Bramson, told the Daily Graphic that the completion of the project was ‘a dream come true as the school had long awaited such a project to be done’.
She thanked the old students for the gesture and urged others to extend a helping hand to the school.