New entrants welcomed to Sunyani Municipality schools

Sunyani (B/A), Sept. 12, GNA- One hundred and forty seven new entrants were on Tuesday welcomed to some public and private schools within the Sunyani Municipality as part of activities marking this year's My First Day at School programme. At the Saint Anslems Anglican Kindergarten and Primary School, 30 children were registered and the school was presented with 30 caps, small national flags and three packets of peanuts to be distributed to the entrants.

Ms. Gladys Serwaa, the Headmistress of the educational institution, told GNA on Tuesday that 40 pupils were expected to register and expressed optimism that the figure could increase.

She called on government to improve the conditions of teachers, supply textbooks for subjects like environmental studies and religious and moral education towards the success of the New Education Reform. Ms. Serwaa said "The rest of the subjects have the syllabus but no textbooks. Also, a head teacher's role must clearly be defined such that it doesn't conflict with that of the teacher's since the head teacher would have to teach and at the same time attend to office duties and there's too much pressure on him or her."

Mr. Thomas Asare, Circuit Supervisor at the Municipal Directorate of Education, said the low enrolment in some schools was due to misinformation that re-opening day for schools had been postponed to September 18 as suggested by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) since some teachers were attending courses that would end by Friday.

At the Glory KinderCare Learning Complex, a private educational facility, 22 new children were admitted to start nursery and kindergarten education.

Mr. F. Amoako, the Executive Director of the Complex, said the Complex provided biscuits as its token to the new entrants. He appealed to the government to set up a special scheme to give loans at low interest to private schools to expand their infrastructure and said successive governments did not give attention to private schools.

He said teachers of the Complex were encouraged to upgrade their skills and knowledge to meet the require standards under the New Education Reform.

At the Presbyterian Model Kindergarten School, 28 new entrants were admitted and caps, mini national flags and peanuts were distributed to the children.

Madam Georgina Yeboah, Headmistress of the School, said there school was facing problems such as lack of textbooks and registration books and urged the government to address the problems. At the Mmeredane Municipal Assembly Kindergarten, 25 new pupils were registered.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Headmistress, was hopeful that the number could increase in the course of the week. She appealed to individuals, organisations and government assist the school to complete a two-unit classroom block.

Two pupils were welcomed at the Lord Blessed Assurance Complex and Madam Elizabeth A. Ackon, Headmistress, appealed to the government to extend the Capitation Grant to private schools to enable them meet the cost of running their schools.

"My teachers complain about low salaries, and most of them leave for the public schools for better pay. If we were to benefit from the capitation grant, this problem can be curtailed and we could also engage the services of trained teachers", she noted. She also called on the government to supply the schools with textbooks and other learning material.