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 The award winners after the ceremony.
Picture: SEVERIOUS KALE-DERY

Accra/Tema Nandom SHS Old Boys honour 10 members

The Accra/Tema branch of the Nandom Senior High School Old Boys Association (NASSOBA) has honoured 10 of its members, who have distinguished themselves in their respective areas of endeavours.

 

Those honoured were the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Jacob Kor, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Professor D.D. Kuupole, the Commissioner of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Customs Division, Mr John Vianney Kuudamnuru, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr C.K. Dondieu, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), Mr Charles A. Abugre.

The rest were the Chief Director of the Ministry of Science, Environment and Innovation, Professor Banoeng Yakubu, a Supreme Court Judge, Justice Gabriel Pwamang, the National Director of Town and Country Planning, Mr Lawrence Dakurah, the Deputy Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Joseph Akanjolenur Whittal, and the Headmaster of the school, Mr Guo Kilian Popyin.

Maiden edition

The event, which was the maiden edition, was in recognition of the exceptional role played by each of them at their respective work-places, as well as the honour and respect they have brought to their alma mater, Nandom Senior High School.

The Nandom Senior High School is an all-male school in the Upper West Region, established by the Catholic Church in 1968. It has produced a number of distinguished personalities, who are serving both nationally and internationally in all aspects of life.

The President of the Accra/Tema branch of the association, Mr Paulinus Terbobre, explained that the award was to acknowledge the contribution of the awardees to national development in honour of the school, and urged all branches of the old boys association, both home and abroad, to contribute towards the development and progress of the school.

School report

Giving a comprehensive report on the school, the headmaster said even though the school was a cradle of education in the region, it was currently facing a number of challenges.

The challenges include stalled projects, over-crowding, outlived infrastructural buildings such as the dormitory blocks, the dining hall, as well as the classroom blocks.

Mr Popyin said in spite of all those challenges, the school continued to chalk up successes both in the academic and other co-curricula activities.

He said though discipline was still high, the school was battling with the phenomenon of students carrying mobile phones to school under the pretext that “we are in the era of technology”.

Reacting to concerns

Reacting to the concern raised by the headmaster, Mr Kor, who was honoured for his exceptional contribution to education, explained that it had been the policy of the GES that no student would be allowed to carry a mobile phone to school and that the ban was still in force.

Giving an analogy on the use of mobile phones, he questioned why passengers were always asked to turn off their mobile phones when the aircraft was either taking off or landing.

“It is for strategic reasons of not trying to let the mobile phone interfere with the navigation system of the plane that would be very dangerous for the plane and the passengers. So it is with the GES, if we allow students to carry mobile phones to school, it will be very difficult for our navigation towards achieving our educational goals,” Mr Kor explained.

Gratitude

Commenting on the award, Prof. Kuupole expressed his gratitude for the honour and thanked the organisers for acknowledging their contribution to society.

On behalf of the awardees, Mr Dondieu also thanked the organisers for the honour done them and urged the young ones to humble themselves and study hard.

He said the honour was a huge responsibility, to find out collectively what they could do to support the school, adding, “To whom much is given, much is expected.”

Mr Douglas Yagra Kumasi, who chaired the function, urged all old boys to begin to think of what they could do to give back to their alma mater. 

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