President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as part of his three-day tour of the Eastern Region has officially commissioned the Abomoso Model Senior High School in the Atiwa West District.
The Abomoso Model Senior High School is one of the nine new model schools being constructed by the government in some parts of the country.
The New Senior High Schools comprises the construction of seven new Senior High Schools and the upgrading of two existing schools into model schools, making a total of nine schools.
These schools are sited at Kwadaso, Dabaa, Awaso, Abomosu, Akrodie, Weija, and Kpasenkpe.
Seven out of the nine schools are proposed science-focused schools.
The other two, are the first-ever Creative Arts School, located at Kwadaso, a suburb in Kumasi, and a Senior High Technical School at Dabaa, named after former President J. A. Kufuor.
The Abomoso Model Senior High School has amenities such as playing fields, administrative buildings, libraries, and dormitories.
Additionally, the V-Block in the school has a total of 24 classrooms, as opposed to 12 classrooms in the E-Blocks constructed by the previous government.
Speaking at the ceremony the President assured that the Free Secondary Education Policy will not be affected by the International Monetary Fund support the government is seeking.
According to him, “I am very confident these programmes, especially the Free SHS and Free TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) programme, will emerge from the programme with the fund intact,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo further admonished Junior High School (JHS) students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related Courses to develop the skill sets and problem-solving abilities to help in Ghana’s development drive.
According to him, the STEM education which developed student’s cognitive abilities and aided quality problem-solving skills, had largely accounted for the successes of the developed countries.
President Akufo-Addo said the world’s economy in this dispensation, was largely driven by science and technology, and entreated Ghanaian students to “think seriously about this (STEM).”
He said countries that were succeeding in today’s world, were those that had emphasised on teaching and learning of science and technology, adding “We cannot afford to be left behind either by our fellow Africans, or by any other people of the world.”
He also urged the residents and the chiefs to rally behind his government to succeed and appealed to the residents to grab the Free Senior High School policy
The Deputy Minister of Education in charge of TVET speaking on behalf of the Sector Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum said the Akufo-Addo-led government has advanced plans to construct an additional 35 more such model schools across the country.
The chiefs of the area, however, hailed the President for the Construction of the Model School in the area.
BY Daniel Bampoe