Government urged to improve facilities in existing schools

Cape Coast (Central Region), 15 Feb '99 -

The government has been called upon to improve upon the infrastructure facilities in senior secondary schools to enable them to absorb more qualified applicants instead of establishing new ones. Professor D. A. Akyeampong, Head of the Mathematics Department of the University of Ghana, who made the call, pointed out that, if the country's 450 or more senior secondary schools were properly equipped, the pressure on heads of institutions, "forcing some to vanish from their campuses" would not be necessary. Addressing the 162nd speech and prize-giving day of the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast at the weekend, Prof. Akyeampong noted that, while parents and guardians look for admissions for their wards in the older and better-endowed schools, the "newer ones cry for students". He asked: "If it is for lack of money that we find it difficult to

provide enough trained teachers and properly equipped workshops for several of the existing SSS, causing parents and guardians to shun some of them, then why where are we going to get the money to establish ten more SSS this financial year as was recently announced by the Minister of Finance?". Prof Akyeampong said it was his view that, instead of creating new SSS, whatever facilities so far provided in existing schools must be consolidated and improved to enable them to absorb as many, if not all, the qualified applicants. He announced that the university has decided that because

of the value of broad-based general education, programmes in Law would be available only to first degree holders with effect from the year 2000. He said the revised SSS programme would be examined for the first time this academic year .

The programme he said has addressed some of the concerns of the universities about the need to introduce some basic science and other academic courses into the applied programmes of agriculture, business, technical and vocational options, to enable those students following such programme to further their education. He said "offering any three or four of Economics, Mathematics, French, Geography and Literature in English is a better preparation we believe, for a degree in Administration than offering a cocktail of business courses such as Business, Mathematics, Accounting and Business Management, which clearly encourages early specialisation". Prof Akyeampong pointed out that, in a rapidly changing knowledge-based economy, such education might work against the interest of the students at a future date. The headmistress of the school, Mrs Nancy Thompson, said it was rather painful for her to have to drop some of the qualified applicants due to lack of space and mentioned lack of Science teachers as the main problem of the school.