Pupils, parents, teachers and staff of Kotobabi No. 2 District Council Basic School near Ashaiman on Saturday honoured their outgoing Head Teacher, Mr Emmanuel Y. Agbesi, for his meritorious service. Mr Agbesi, who is retiring after 37 years, was given a suitcase, refrigerator, and a gas cooker with a gas cylinder.

The suitcase, refrigerator, gas cooker with cylinder came from the pupils, parents and teachers and staff in that order.

Mr Agbesi in return donated four plastic chairs to the school and thanked them for the gesture and requested them to accord the same co-operation to his successor.

During his eight-year tenure of office, the school has had a permanent classroom block, a pavilion, produced athletes to the regional level while enrolment was increased. There are 450 children in the school. Mr Prince A. Gariba, Chairman of the school's Parent - Teacher Association (PTA), who was full of praises for the Head Teacher, said but for him the school would not have developed.

He said Mr Agbesi, had to move from house to house to persuade parents to enrol their children in the school.

The teachers said the cordial human relations of Mr Agbesi motivated most of them to accept posting to the school.

Mr Kingsley Kwame Appiah, Assembly member for the Kotobabi area called on parents to show concern for their wards' education by providing their needs. Mr Appiah appealed to the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) to help complete the pavilion. GRi

Clocuh urges girls to be science oriented

Tema, 14th Aug. 1999 Mr Lawrence Clocuh, Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, on Saturday called on girls in schools to determine to take up science related professions. Closing a week-long science clinic for 220 junior secondary school (JSS) and senior secondary school (SSS) girls drawn from the Greater Accra region at Tema. He said the national attainment of a middle income status calls for the application of scientific technology in development. It was, therefore, important that girls compete with the boys in science subjects in the schools, which would inspire them to go into science careers to be able to meet the challenges ahead. Mr Clocuh said Asian countries, which laid emphasis on science have developed faster with the involvement of girls taking up science related subjects and hoped that Ghanaians girls could equally do the same. He said science is not the preserve of boys so girls should do away with fear and show interest in science adding that with determination they would achieve their aim. Most girls interviewed said they were grateful to organisers of the clinic because it was productive as it exposed them to many practical work like soap, batik, tie/dye making. They drew inspiration from women scientists, who interacted with them and advised them to remove the myth surrounding science and rather study hard. The girls suggested that the clinic should be extended to the girls in the rural areas. Miss Merley Commodore, a SSS student of Accra High School said she could do so many things on her own with local materials. They toured factories in Tema to acquaint themselves with their operations. The clinic aimed at encouraging girls to study science and mathematics as well as provide them with opportunities to explore science careers. GRi

Students' Union protest against police brutality

Accra, 13th Aug. 1999 The leadership of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) on Friday protested against police brutality on demonstrating students, saying it was an indictment on the Police Administration and the Ministry of the Interior. It said the police action was unfortunate and unwarranted because they were on a peaceful demonstration and did nothing to incite anybody. Mr Joseph Adongo, National President of NUGS, said this when the students body presented a petition to President Jerry John Rawlings calling on the government to withdraw the increase in fees in the universities. The petition was received at the Ministry of Education by Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Deputy Minister in charge of Tertiary Education. The police had used teargas, water canon and other riot control equipment to disperse the students at Christianborg Cross Road as they marched to the Castle to present their petition to the President. The petition said they would resist any attempt to reopen the universities if the controversy surrounding the increase in fees was not resolved. It called for the immediate establishment of the proposed educational fund and an end to rampant changes in educational policies. It urged the government to stop using ad-hoc measures to solve educational problems. Mr Adongo criticised Dr Chambas for refusing to accept a similar resolution presented to him last Monday. Dr Chambas said the petition would be forwarded to the President for action. He cautioned the students to use approved channels of communication in handling issues bothering them, saying it is the policy of the Ministry of Education not to engage in the discussion of matters with stakeholders "in the streets". He said matters such as the students' fees are handled in an atmosphere of peace and denied NUGS' allegations that he refused them audience or to accept the resolution, adding: "we will not do that on the streets". Dr Chambas also expressed regret about Friday's incident between police and students. He pointed out that the authorities and police would not spare any group of people who, under the guise of demonstrations, break the laws of the country. Mrs Ofosu-Asiedu said she hoped all stakeholders in education would team up to give excellent moral and academic training to children, who are the future leaders of the country. Pastor Sylvester Kyei-Baffour, proprietor of the school, said the school is constructing a science laboratory and a library and has so far spent over 50 million cedis on the projects. He said last year the school presented 46 candidates at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and 44 had aggregate six and the remaining two had aggregate seven. Mr George Antwi, headmaster of the school, asked parents to have regular interactions with the teachers and also monitor the work of their children at home. He said teachers were doing all they could to mold children, therefore, parents should complement their efforts.