Asanteman School Faces Infrastructural Problems

After forty-nine years of its establishment, Asanteman Secondary School in Kumasi still lacks staff bungalows and adequate infrastructure. The school has converted a classroom block to house the teachers of the school.

Speaking in an interview with the Chronicle, the headmaster of the school Mr. William Kwadwo Antwi stressed that the school has only three bungalows housing six of the teachers, adding that accommodation is a problem for the school.

According to the headmaster of the school, the state of the bungalows which house the teachers is nothing to write home about.

Mr. Antwi said in spite of the limited resources, the government is constructing the road leading to the school and those with in the school.

He also said that the government had approved ?120million for the construction of a two storey classroom complex.

He said the school has a population of 1363 with majority of them being day students. This has affected discipline in the school since majority of the students come to school late.

The headmaster emphasized that the school has sent an application form to GES and the Ministry of Education for the expansion of the staffroom but the school had not had any response from GES as at the time of filing this report.

Mr. Antwi also lamented that the school's library is too small for the population of the school. 'Previously the school's academic performance was nothing to write home about, but the trend has changed in the past five years.'

They scored 99 percent in the 2002 senior secondary school certificate examination, he disclosed.

'Apart from the ?10 million that the asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II gave to us, we have not received any assistance from the palace even though we bear their emblem' he lamented.

He emphasized that due to inadequate dormitories, the school currently has boarding facilities for the male students only.

'Due to that the Parent Teacher Association is constructing a dormitory for the school which will cater for the female students when completed.'

The headmaster has made a passionate appeal to the Asanteman Council, stakeholders, NGOs and old students of the school to come to the aid of the school to ensure the needed development in the school.