Aggrey Memorial celebrates 85 years

The Aggrey Memorial AME Zion Senior High School in Cape Coast on Saturday commemorated its 85th anniversary with a splendid durbar where management and students made a fervent appeal to all stakeholders for infrastructural and logistical support to enhance the learning environment.

Mrs Dorothy Adentwi-Hayford, the Headmistress of the school, observed that despite the school’s high status and achievements, it continued to grapple with numerous challenges, including infrastructure, accommodation, transportation, security, and water.

“I believe that with the support of our stakeholders, especially the government of Ghana, Parents’ Association, old students’ association, and the church, the school will be able to resolve them to place our school at the pedestal that it deceives,” she said.

The celebration, sponsored by the Millenium Year Group of the old Aggrey Memorial Old Students’ Association (AMOSA 2000), was held on the theme: “Building on 85 years of quality education: The role of stakeholders.”

Graced by prominent dignitaries, old students and current students, the durbar opened with a stunning display by the school’s army cadet who set the tone for the hearty celebration of academic excellence and achievements over the past eight and a half decades.

The bright mauve and yellow colours of the school’s freshly painted buildings, the neatly trimmed lawn with flowers, and the sparklingly clean environment blended perfectly to create an atmosphere befitting the celebration of the milestone.

AMOSA 2000, as part of their sponsorship package, handed a 10-seater ultramodern washroom facility as a legacy project to the school during the durbar.

Before that, they undertook a project to revamp the school’s water system to improve the water situation and upgraded the milling facility.

Mrs Adentwi-Hayford, while commending all stakeholders for their support over the years, said the school required more support to give it a facelift.

She said the school needed a 28-unit classroom block to ease the congestion in the existing classrooms as well as more staff bungalows to accommodate more staff on campus to ensure effective monitoring and discipline.

“The current dining hall has a capacity of 1,000 students at a time, which is woefully inadequate for 3,200 students of only two-year groups in school in a semester. There is, therefore, an urgent need for the expansion of our current dining hall,” she added.

The headmistress indicated that current school population of more than 4,800 students needed additional 65-seater bus to help ease the much pressure on the existing bus.

“The school lacks a well-resourced library befitting a school as big as Aggrey Memorial. I am therefore appealing to our stakeholders to come to the aid of the school to refurbish our library with current books and other E- library resources,” she appealed. 

On security, she stated that the school was not safe with only seven security personnel manning the whole Area, including bungalows, dormitories, the school gate and unapproved routes leading to the school and called for additional numbers.

Mrs Adentwi-Hayford, in her report, touted the school’s academic prowess but noted that the results from the last WASSCE were not impressive as only 673 candidates could obtain grades A1 to C6.

To address the issue, management had, instituted a raft of measures, including model classes, extended teaching hours, extended prep hours, and intensified supervision for both teachers and students as the school strives to graduate from the Grade B category to Grade A.

She also highlighted some infrastructural developments in the last year and touted the school’s successes in the just-ended zonal and super zonal sporting competitions.

Ms Maame Doku Blay, the girls’ prefect, corroborating the challenges in the school, lamented the overcrowding in the dormitories which forced students to sleep on the corridors and made them susceptible to communicable diseases and appealed for more dormitories.

She also called for additional boreholes and water storage tanks to deal with the frequent water challenges.

Mr Ekow Panyin Okyere Eduamoah, the Central Regional Minister, who graced the occasion as the guest speaker, pledged his full support and commitment to the continuous growth and success of the school.

“In the coming days, my office will engage with the school’s authority to ensure that necessary measures are put in place for the smooth running of the institution and that will include ensuring that you have a standby generator,” he assured.

He assured the school that the Mahama-led administration was fully committed to addressing all concerns associated with secondary school education to enhance quality.

“The government remains resolute in its commitment to expanding infrastructure in our schools to ensure conducive learning environments for students.

“The gradual phasing out of the double track system is a priority and with sustained investment, we will realise this goal,” he added. 

Prof James K. Aikins, an Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology, stressed the need to consolidate the school’s old tradition and values of integrity, respect, discipline, and leadership which had been his guiding principles in his journey.

He entreated the school to evolve and embracing new technologies, methodologies, and perspectives that would equip future generations of leaders for the challenges of the 21st Century.

“But even as we adapt to the future, we must never lose sight of the values that have always defined us: a commitment to excellence, a dedication to service, and a belief in the transformative power of education,” he stressed.

Prof Aikins, a 1975 alumnus of the school, indicated that ensuring quality education was a shared responsibility, calling on students, parents, teachers, staff, old students, communities and government to actively play their parts for a better system.

Dr Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, the Global President of AMOSA, urged the students to desist from ruining projects and items handed over to them and rather channel their energies into studying and making the best of grades.

Source: GNA

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