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President John Mahama being assisted by the chief of Chindiri, Nana Bonja II, to inaugurate the new SHS block for students of Chindiri

President inaugurates 5th Community SHS at Chindiri

The government took yet another step towards expanding access to secondary education when President John Dramani Mahama inaugurated the Nchumuruman Community Day Senior High School (SHS) at Chindiri in the Krachi Nchumuru District in the Volta Region yesterday.

It brings to five the number of community SHSs completed.

President Mahama said 14 others were nearing completion and advised communities where the schools were located not to allow themselves to be deceived by people who claimed the government would not be able to complete the projects.

Unlike the first four schools which started with the admission of first-year students, the Nchumuruman Community SHS, which is an old school with a current student population of 1,400, will relocate into the new E-shaped three-storey edifice.

The project has 25 classrooms, five science laboratories, offices, a computer laboratory, an assembly hall and other ancillary facilities.

For the members of the largely farming community of Chindiri and its environs, the project is one of the best things to have been accomplished in the area.

They trooped to the school in their numbers to witness the inauguration.

Enrolment 

President Mahama noted the strides being made by the four community SHSs earlier completed and said their total enrolment was over 2,000.

He said those students could have missed the opportunity of continuing their education beyond JHS. 

Delay

He expressed concern over the delay on the part of some contractors who had been awarded contract for the community day SHSs.

He asked the district assemblies to monitor the projects to ensure that they were completed on time.

The newly inaugurated Chindiri SHS block

Quality education 

President Mahama said the government was determined to promote quality education in under-served communities and, therefore, urged students of the Nchumuruman Community SHS to make the best out of the facilities.

Existing schools

While improving access to education through the construction of new schools, he said, work was also underway to rehabilitate existing schools. 

Presently, 50 existing schools had been selected for upgrading of infrastructure under the secondary education expansion programme, he said.

The programme, he noted, would create an additional 5,520 places for students.

He said 300 schools were being equipped to strengthen the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics. 

Free SHS 

Touching on the progressively free SHS programme which started with day students, the President said it would be extended to boarding students in deprived schools from the next academic year. 

He commended private schools for their contribution to educational development.

Initiatives

The Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, took time to go through various government initiatives targeted at advancing quality education and said there was no turning back.

She said 400,000 supplementary readers had been procured for distribution to basic schools across the country.

She said the ministry had commenced measures to review the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System after 10 years of implementation. 

"Under this exercise, the ministry seeks to engage all relevant stakeholders to review and improve on the current system," she said.

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