Some students of Gwiraman SHS. INSET: Freddie Blay
FREDDIE BLAY, the immediate past national chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has encouraged Senior High School (SHS) students to aim high, study hard, read wide and pursue success.
He has also called on them to be disciplined and devote their time to their books and avoid social vices which might affect their goals in education.
He was speaking at the 5th Anniversary celebration of Gwiraman Senior High School (GWIRASEC) in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region over the weekend.
Mr. Blay noted that education is the key to national development.
He, therefore, stressed the need for the students to obey the rules and regulations of the school to succeed in their endeavours.
The anniversary celebration was on the theme “Access to Secondary Education in Rural Ghana is a catalyst to Rural Development: Enhancing the Commitment of Stakeholders for the Upliftment of GWIRASEC as an emerging institution.”
He commended the headmistress and teachers for ensuring that despite its current challenges, the school has been growing in leaps and bounds for the past five years.
He said even though successive governments have been investing heavily in the country’s educational system to improve access to quality and affordable education, “I remain committed to supporting the school but we need other sponsors, particularly, the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education, to give to the school the requisite support.”
He commended the traditional leaders in the area for their excellent work in supporting the growth of the school.
Mr. Blay, who is the Board Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), pledged an amount of GH¢100,000 on behalf of the GNPC to the school.
In an address read on his behalf, the Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, said over the last five years, the government has implemented cutting-edge reforms and policies.
“They are aimed to remodel the education sector and train students with 21st Century skills required to participate fully in the 4th Industrial Revolution,” he explained.
Headmistress of the school, Ms Agatha Mensah, appealed to the government to help change the day school into a boarding one by constructing boys and girls dormitories for the school.
She also called for the construction of the deplorable road leading to the school and the provision of potable water.
A lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, Prof Grace Vanderpuije, who spoke on the theme for the celebration, noted that education helps develop students’ critical thinking abilities, among others.
The Ghana Gas Company has meanwhile promised to construct dormitories for students of the school.
FROM Emmanuel Opoku, Bamiankor