Govt. examining JSS and SSS systems

The government is critically examining the Junior Secondary (JSS) and Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) system and the current standard and the possibility of increasing the number of years to be spent at the Senior Secondary Schools.

This was made known by President John Agyekum Kufuor, when he addressed the 53rd Special Speech and Prize-Giving Day of Prempeh College held in his honour in Kumasi on Saturday.

It formed part of his two-day visit to Kumasi during which he attended the special congregation held by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to honour the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu 11.

Tomorrow, Sunday, President Kufuor will celebrate the Eid-Ul_Fitr festival of Moslems marking the end of their fasting at the Kumasi Central Mosque.

President Kufuor said the objective of the critical examination of the JSS and SSS system was firstly to ensure that the youth did not leave school prematurely and secondly to ensure that those who did not pursue tertiary education would be matured enough to enter gainful employment and face the responsibilities of social life when they left school.

The third factor, President Kufuor said, was that, those who pursued tertiary education would be equitably qualified for this and that the state and society should try to avail the youth of ready admission when they left school.

President Kufuor said, in support of the examination of the school system with the view to improving upon it, therefore, government will make nursery schools an integral part of the primary school system.

Touching on school management, the President said the country cannot hope to develop unless there was modernization, pointing out that that was why he preached Information Technology (IT) all over again.

He said: "we cannot talk about modernising and improving the running of our schools if we neglect the qualities of those who run these institutions."

"Gone are the days when simply being a good teacher was enough to qualify you to be a headmaster", President Kufuor pointed out.

These schools, he said, were smaller and the available resources were comparatively better and one could therefore, afford the enviable amateur school headmaster.

"Today we need a real manager, well-trained and well-versed in modern methods of management, financial control facilities and administration to occupy the leaderships of our institutions."

President Kufuor said fund-raising skills should be seen as an integral art and an obligatory requirement for all heads of educational institutions.

He, however, called for transparency and accountability in the management of such resources just like they would manage government resources and said to do this required knowledge in management.

The President said the time had therefore, come for all managers of schools to undergo training in the fields of financial control and administration so that they could better manage the scarce resources that government puts into schools.

President Kufuor pleaded with the students to take the education on the HIV/AIDS seriously and told them that if they could not control themselves and must have sex, then they must protect themselves by using the condom.

He also asked them to refrain from taking drugs since the country could not afford to lose her youth to drugs.

In the academic performance of the school, President Kufuor commended the school for its excellent performance and urged them to keep it up. He was particularly please with the smart turn out of the students and the Cadet Corps in general, saying that he was a founding member of the corps and was a Sergeant.

President Kufuor also expressed his appreciation to the school and Board of Governors for honouring him by erecting his bust in the school and being given a place in the Heroes corner of the school.

He made a donation of 30 million cedis to the school towards the rehabilitation of some of its structures including the administration block and old classrooms in which he was taught as a student.

Professsor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, Minister of Education also said that under the directives of the President, the Ministry was going to take a survey of all 474 Second Cycle institutions in the country with the view to elevating one school in each district to status of the well-endowed schools.

He said the Ministry was also going to take a look at Information Technology (IT) in schools and the introduction of Open Universities as part of enhancing education.

Mr. Emmanuel A. Sekyere, the Headmaster of Prempeh College in his report, said the school scored 99.4 percent in last year's Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination with a student of the school emerging as the overall best student nation-wide and the best student in science nation-wide.

He attributed this achievement to the discipline, which now existed in the school and also said his tenure of office had witnessed the environmental changes in the school.

Mr. Sekyere announced that the administration had turned all pan toilets into water closets and acquired refuse containers to ensure that students did not litter the compound, thereby avoiding the possible outbreak of any epidemic.

He said the school had also established a 1500-acre banana plantation in addition to a one acre citrus plantation.

Mr. Sekyere said plans were underway to computerise the accounts section, the library and clinic.

The Headmaster said their major problem was with the over-subscription of students at the beginning of every academic year and that the school could admit only 800 students out of the large number who qualified and therefore, appealed to the government to consider upgrading the structures to enable the school to admit more students.

Mr. Sekyere commended the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu 11, who was present at the function for assisting the school with 100 million cedis for the completion of the Opoku Ware House.

Earlier, President Kufuor had commissioned a science block annex, unveiled a plaque for the heroes of the school, while the Asantehene also unveiled the bust of President Kufuor.