The Headmaster of St. Paul’s Senior High School, Paul Agbakpe has expressed some concerns regarding inadequate infrastructure in the school and the deteriorating nature of existing projects.
He disclosed that the school has no administration block and currently, the Headmaster and Assistants are occupying classrooms as offices while the administrative staff is far away from the Headmaster’s office.
Mr. Agbakpe disclosed this at the school’s 40th Speech and Prize Giving Day at Asakraka in the Kwahu South of the Eastern Region.
On Security, the Headmaster said the school has only one security officer.
The St. Paul’s Senior High School was established in September 1979, as Asakraka Secondary Commercial Day School. But over the years it has evolved and it is now under the Management of the Roman Catholic Church, Koforidua Diocese.
Currently, the school has a total students’ population of 1,666 which comprises 886 males and 780 females.
The school, in 2019 WASSCE saw a significant improvement from the 2018 WASSCE results. Out of 397 candidates presented, 60% which totaled 238 students has six or more passes.
The headmaster of the School, Paul Agbakpe in his address said, this year’s result saw 18% increase of the last year’s one and for the first time in the history of the school, two students recorded 7A’s.
However, the school is faced with a lot of challenges among them are inadequate bungalows. The school has only two bungalows, with one being occupied by the Assistant Headmaster of Academic while the other one is being shared between the Senior Housemaster and the Senior House Mistress. The rest of the staff including the Headmaster are all outside the school premises, a situation, Mr. Agbakpe considers worrisome.
He further stated that the absence of a fence wall is a major problem to every member of St. Paul’s community. Adding that there are several paths linking the school to the town this he said, makes students sneak to town with impunity to involve in various deviant behaviors while some will also steal foodstuffs from the school kitchen and cook in the town.
He called on individuals, the Catholic Church, philanthropists, NGOs, and the government to come to the aid of the school to improve their facilities.
The Deputy Minister of Education in Charge of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Gifty Twum Ampofo in his address charged teachers to adhere to their work ethics and refrain from acts that are contrary to the teaching profession.
Adding that teachers should be role models to students and also have good moral conviction to enable the country produce students who are competitive in the global job market.
The Eastern Regional Director of Education, Margaret Nsiah-Asamoah, entreated parents not to shift their responsibilities to teachers adding that their expectations from teachers should march their commitment.
Some hardworking, dedicated, long-serving teachers, as well as students, were given awards.
The theme for the occasion was ‘Providing Quality Education Through Discipline’.
