Mfantsipim School celebrates 146th anniversary

Mfantsipim School celebrates 146th anniversary

Mfantsipim School celebrates 146th anniversary

The Headmaster of Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, Rev Ebenezer Aidoo, has appealed to old boys and other stakeholders to adopt infrastructure facilities in the school for regular maintenance.

He indicated the fact that school had been in session without a regular vacation for a long time was putting pressure on the school’s infrastructure saying the school was likely to lose most of its buildings in the next five to ten years if they were not regularly maintained.

“Our dormitory and classroom blocks are deteriorating at a very fast rate,” he stated and appealed to parents and old boys of the various houses to adopt and help maintain their houses and dormitories.

He was speaking at the 146th Speech and Prize giving day of the School in Cape Coast at the weekend.

The celebration was on the theme: “Hen Nananom Boate Pa: Producing Graduates Fit for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.(4IR).”

Headmaster’s bungalow

He said the headmaster’s bungalow was also gradually becoming a threat and needed renovation as a matter of urgency.

“The roof leaks badly, the wooden floor is very weak and poses a danger, most electrical and other fittings are damaged,” he stated.

Rev Aidoo said another major challenge the school faced currently was the high cost of electricity.

“We are on pre-paid meters and money to buy power regularly is a big problem. The use of solar panel or energy to support will be a welcome relief for us,” he stated and appealed to individuals and companies to come to the aid of the school.

Rev Aidoo also stated that there was inadequate furniture for the students and that affected effective teaching and learning.

He called for more furniture and the expansion of the dinning hall and a new Assembly hall.

Successes

Rev Aidoo said in spite of the challenges, the school continued to chalked success producing 92 percent passes in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

He said the school also place first in the maiden Formula 1 Robotics competition of First Lego League Challenge in Ghana, first in Coderz League is an international virtual competition and first in a public speaking contest.

He stated that the schools e-learning project was on-going, working gradually towards equipping every teacher to be able to use the facility to improve teaching and learning adding that a series of workshops had been organized for teachers in the various units/subjects areas.

Guest speaker

Speaking at the ceremony, the guest speaker, Dr Joseph Adjetey Oliver-Commey, a specialist with the Ghana Health Service said educators, schools,
government officials and parents must rethink education and how to prepare the next generation to take advantage of the plethora of opportunities and overcome the challenges enabled by the ever increasing technological change.

Speaking about Mfantsipim

graduates in particular, Dr Oliver-Commey added that Mfantsipim graduates needed to be educated differently to make them excel in the fourth industrial revolution.

Dr Oliver-Commey who is a member of the 1992 year group said educational stakeholders must redefine the purpose of education to meet the needs of society adding that education served to prepare graduates for jobs and build discipline to impact the society.

He said political leadership needed to provide the right political leadership and vision to support and prioritize investments and policies that lead clear reforms to positively impact the educational system.

STEAM

He observed that the education must effectively together improve science , technology, arts ,engineering and mathematics education which was often thought of as opposites that their current education system had and continues to view them as separate entities where students pick and stick to a side of the fence by the senior high school education.

Teacher training

He further said education managers must alter educator training to ensure that rather than teachers teaching students to memorize , teachers become guides to help students ignite and hone their own learning and lines of inquiry.

However, he said these teachers must be adequately be motivated, have manageable workloads and were proactive and dedicated to boldly deliver in their jobs.

Relevant competencies

In an address read on her behalf the Central Regional Minister, Justina Assam emphasized that education was indispensable for the holistic growth of society towards achieving multi-directional development in their economic, sociocultural, technological and political dispensation and added that graduates must have the competencies for the world’s complexities.

The Chairman for the occasion, Chris Essilfie in his part commended the student for their achievements this academic year and thanked other stakeholders of the school particularly the sponsoring year Groups (SYGs) for their support and successful organization of their speech day not forgetting the guidance from MOBA national.

Awards

The ceremony saw some current and graduate students receive awards for their distinct and excellent performance at the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination and end of term examinations.

Workers who excelled also received awards.