Headmaster of Ketasco appeals for beds, furniture and other facilities for the school

The 71-year-old Grade B Senior High School, Keta Senior High Technical School (Ketasco) is in dire need of some facilities to facilitate the increasing number of students in the school.

The school's current student population is 4,608, consisting of 1,805 first-year students, 1,370 Form 2 students, and 1,430 final-year students.

According to the headmaster, Innocent August, a total of 2,050 students were placed in the school during the 2023/2024 academic year but only 1,805 were admitted.

The headmaster said his inability to admit all 2,050 students was a result of lack of dormitory facilities, inadequate classrooms, furniture, and a dining hall.

Speaking at the school's 71st anniversary, Founder's Day, and Homecoming ceremony on Saturday, February 24, 2024, the headmaster outlined the various challenges the school is battling with and stressed the need to provide solutions to them.

"The current number of our students so far outweighs the number of furniture we have in the classrooms. Our students therefore do not have enough furniture to use in the classrooms. Students are compelled to carry desks from one class to another for use, and some of them also have no choice but to share a single desk in the classrooms. The school needs about 1,100 tables and chairs", he said.

On inadequate dormitories, the headmaster said, "We currently have more students being accommodated in the boarding house than ever, we have an average of 180 in each of the houses, and this seems to put a lot of pressure and stress on the house parents regarding supervising these students in their houses... a lot of students do not have beds to sleep on, they put their mattresses on the floor which creates limited use of space leading to congestion in the dormitories, the dormitories are now full and we currently need about 1,000 beds to deal with this inadequate bed issue in the school", he noted.

"The school also lacks decent and adequate toilet and bathroom facilities for students. We urgently need expansion in the toilet and bathhouse facilities in all the houses in the school to alleviate the situation", he added.

Another challenge in the school is the dining hall which can no longer contain the increased number of students.

Built some decades ago, the dining hall cannot only contain the student population, but it has weak ceiling fans, broken windows, leakage, and outmoded electrical wiring with a few dining tables and benches.

"Our current dining hall space can no longer contain our students at a go during their meal time, we need a new and bigger dining hall to take care of our current students," the headmaster said.

He also revealed that inadequate classrooms are also a challenge in the school.
He said the school needs an additional five classes for the form one students.

The headmaster appealed to benevolent persons, institutions, government, and old students to come to their aid.

Guest of honour for the event was the Volta Regional Education Director, Francis Yaw Agbemadi.

In his speech, he called on the school's alumni to support the school in diverse ways.

He urged the school to also prioritize Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education.

The durbar was on a theme: "Taking Advantage of Modern Technology for Job Creation and Self-Employment in the Global Economy".