Ms Bampo makes significant contribution to development of education

For the past five years, the immediate past Headmistress of the Aburi Girls’ Senior High School (SHS) in the Eastern Region, Ms Rosemond Bampo, who was appointed in March 2011, has worked with dedication and made significant contributions to the development of the school until her retirement in September 2016.

Ms Bampo’s tenure facilitated the completion of a two-storey 300-bed dormitory block and two staff apartments, projects funded by the Aburi Old Girls’ Association (AOGA).

Her tenure also saw the establishment of two information and communications technology (ICT) centres, the rehabilitation of the school’s main kitchen and pantry, as well as the rehabilitation of both the physics and biology laboratories, in addition to the construction of an 18-unit classroom block funded by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).

At a send-off ceremony held in her honour last Saturday, stakeholders of the Aburi Girls’ SHS were full of praise for the immediate past headmistress of the school for contributing enormously to the development and progress of the school.

Commendation

They commended her not only for instilling outstanding discipline that caused the school to attain persistent academic excellence, but also for helping the institution to enjoy significant infrastructure development.

These commendations were made by the Board of Governors of the Aburi Girls’ SHS,  AOGA, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), the Parents-Teacher Association (PTA), the students of the school and the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) during the send-off ceremony at the school.

The event attracted people from all walks of life, including politicians, the clergy, traditional leaders, parents, old students of the school, head of CHASS, staff and students, as well as friends and family members.

It also attracted the presence of the 1975 peer groups of the AOGA and the Wesley Girls’ Senior High School in Cape Coast.

Academic laurels

A member of the Board of Governors of Aburi Girls’ SHS, Mr Samuel Gyan Donkor, was assisted by the PTA Chairman of the school, Dr Vladimir Antwi Danso, to present to Ms Bampo a citation that acknowledged her significant contribution to the school.

“Your pragmatic approach to issues militating against effective teaching and learning resulted in the school recording persistent improvements in students’ performance at the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).”

“It came as no surprise that the school swept three awards in the areas of Mathematics and Science and as the Overall Best School in the Eastern Region from 2011 to 2015 in the first-ever National Best School Awards conducted on regional basis,” the citation said.

A mentor and mother

On behalf of the PCG, the President of the Trinity Theological Seminary of the PCG, Rev. Prof.  J.O.Y Mante, congratulated Ms Bampo for instilling discipline among students and staff, adding that; “You helped raise God-fearing students for the country.

“We are grateful to you for being a strict disciplinarian who has helped keep a clean and healthy school environment and nurturing young talents for the future,” he stated.

The National President of AOGA, Mrs Cynthia Asare-Bediako, congratulated Ms Bampo for her outstanding management of Aburi Girls’ SHS that saw the school soaring high and achieving various excellent academic laurels.

Life lessons

The President of the Students’ Representative Council and Girls’ Prefect of Aburi Girls’ SHS, Ms Christiana Kwakyewa Asihene, described the former headmistress as “an amiable lady, and during your stay here, your words of encouragement have not been forgotten and your life lessons remain with us.”

“We will remember your fairness and firmness as a leader, not forgetting your caring and loving role as a mother to us. You showed commitment to our achievement that contributed greatly to the consistent high performance of candidates at the WASSCE,” she stated.

Responding to the compliments of the various stakeholders, Ms Bampo expressed appreciation for the support and co-operation stakeholders extended to her during her term in office, saying; “All these contributed to my success.”

"There is no way that my journey would have been successful without the input of every single person gathered here and I will take the opportunity today to express my sincerest appreciation to all of you," she acknowledged.

Achievements

Ms Bampo had a successful career at the Ghana Senior High School (GHANASS), Koforidua, when she joined the school and served as a National Service Person in September 1982. She later rose to become the assistant headmistress 59 years after the school’s establishment and became the Headmistress in October 2002. In March 2011, she left for Aburi Girls until her retirement in September 2016.

She focused on co-curricular activities that led Aburi Girls’ SHS to excel at the National Robotics Olympiad, with the school representing Ghana at the World Robotics Olympiads in Indonesia and Russia in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

 Ms Rosemond Bampo, a widow with two children, grew up in Aburi in the Eastern Region. Her father was Mr David Opare Bampo who was a bursar of the Aburi Girls’ Secondary School from 1954 to 1974.

She had her basic education at the Aburi Presbyterian Primary School and the Aburi Presbyterian Middle Girls’ Boarding School. She started her secondary education at the Wesley Girls' High School in Cape Coast, from where she obtained the General Certificate Examination (GCE) Ordinary Level certificate, and continued her GCE 'A' Level at the Sixth Form at Aburi Girls' Secondary School.

Ms Rosemond Bampo enrolled at the University of Cape Coast for a Bachelor of Arts  degree in History with a Diploma in Education (B.A.Dip. Ed) and later pursued a Master’s degree in Management in Education (M. Ed. Mgt. Ed.)

Transformation

With the cooperation of all key stakeholders, staff and students, Board of Governors,  the PTA, old students, the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the New Juaben Traditional Council, the 60-year-old presbyterian transformed GHANASS, which was evident as she produced the National Overall Best Student, as well as the Best Student in General Arts in 2001 under her supervision as the Assistant Headmistress  of the school (Academic).

Also, academic standards continued to improve with better WASSCE results, leading to an increase in the number of students who chose GHANASS as their first choice of school.

By the time she left GHANASS after nine and a half years as headmistress, GHANASS had become the most academically prosperous SHS in the Eastern Region.