Students of Nkonya Senio High School in the Biakoye District of the Oti region have benefited from 100 desks and chairs donated by old students of the school.
The consignment which is 700 shy of 800 desks needed by the school was donated to end the desk and chair deficit. It is a single track school with 1964 students.
Coach Joseph Emmanuel Sarpong, an old student who made the presentation on behalf of his colleague alumni said it was heart breaking when they heard that some students had no tables and chairs to study with.
To the extent that some classes are totally empty while other depended on benches from the dining hall. He said there was similar situation in the dormitories too, where some students slept on their mattresses on the floor due to inadequate beds.
Coach Sarpong as he is affectionately called expressed disappointment that the government and education Ministry will shirk its responsibility of ensuring all teaching and learning infrastructure was available for students to have a conducive environment to study.
He said the old students can only support, but the government must live up to expectation and ensure the Free SHS policy succeeds, because it was a good initiative. Else, such neglect could go a long way to erode the gains of the policy.
Nonetheless, he urged the students not to be perturbed but give off their best and study hard to make good grades and the right training that will earn them a better life in future.
He also appealed to the entire school to take good care of the desks and chairs saying, “We want to come and see these desks and chairs the same way we are seeing them.”
Christopher Degbor, the Assistant Headmaster in charge of Academics thanked the old students for coming to the aid of their alma mater.
He described the donation as timely considering that inadequate furniture was topmost challenge of the school.
He explained that the issue has been communicated to the appropriate quarters and appealed to the old students to help follow-up on such requests even as staff managed the situation.
Mr. Degbor assured that the desks and chairs will be properly maintained and put to good use to improve academic work and attain good moral conduct of students.
He said the school has seen consistent improvement in its West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results since 2015. Over 80 percent of its students passed in the recent WASSCCE with about 60 percent recording A1 to C6.
That notwithstanding, the school needs teachers in the area of Sculpture, Leatherworks, Mathematics, Science and Music.
From Fred Duodu, Nkonya (freduoo@yahoo.com)