HEADMASTER OF BAWKU SHS YEARNS FOR PEACE (PAGE 20, FEB 26, 2010)

THE Headmaster of Bawku Senior High School (SHS), Mr Bismarck Simon Kpuli, has stated that despite the intermittent insecurity in the municipality, the school is in a position to perform academically.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic at Bawku after a parent-teacher association (PTA) meeting, the headmaster said the school authorities were determined to deliver on its mandate to the stakeholders in spite of the numerous challenges it was saddled with.
From its humble beginning as Azoka Secondary School, Bawku SHS was established in 1963.
With an initial enrolment of less than 100, the school’s current student population stands at 1,784 comprising 1,346 boys and 438 girls.
Although it is against the school’s policy of admitting at least a third of the intake as day students, the entire 1,784 students are in the boarding house.
According to the headmaster, the decision to admit all the students into the boarding house was taken in order to provide them with an uninterrupted learning opportunity in view of the protracted ethnic conflict that had assumed immeasurable dimensions within the municipality in recent times.
He said in recent times, the government and other stakeholders had made bold attempts to improve infrastructure in the school, as evident in the massive rehabilitation works on the physical infrastructure ranging from classroom blocks, through dormitories and staff bungalows to the water system.
Mr Kpuli said that notwithstanding, the institution still faced some serious challenges, which were a threat to the smooth running of the school.
He stated that the 1,784 students in the boarding house were living under difficult conditions.
The problems include perennial water shortage as the school’s only mechanised borehole broke down shortly after installation and all attempts to have it replaced had failed.
The headmaster said as a result, the school had to purchase water weekly for the school’s kitchen to prepare meals for the students.
Other pressing challenges, he said, were the high utility bills, especially water and electricity, stressing that the problems would be more pronounced next year when about 600 new students would be admitted to bring the total enrolment to about 2,400.
“If the problems persist, then the school would be forced to cut down enrolment drastically or at best make the fresh students day students,” Mr Kpuli said.
He said other areas of concern which needed immediate attention was the inadequate staff accommodation.
Mr Kpuli said currently, only 51 bungalows and quarters were available for the teaching staff of 90, as well as a sizeable number of non-teaching staff who performed essential services.
Other challenges are lack of transport to carry out administrative duties as the only pick-up vehicle available to the administration, which was donated by the PTA, is 20 years old. The vehicle breaks down frequently.
Mr Kpuli also cited lack of Internet connectivity for the computer laboratory, lack of equipment for the schools dispensary and encroachment on school lands as other major problems confronting the institution.
Mr Kpuli said despite those challenges, the academic profile of the school was commendable.
He stressed that monitoring and supervision of the teaching and learning process had been stepped up over the past two years leading to a remarkable improvement in student output.
According to the headmaster, the academic improvement programme instituted and supported by the school’s PTA had boosted the academic performance of the students greatly.
Figures available indicate that a large number of the students qualified for admission to tertiary institutions last year as compared to previous years.
Mr Kpuli said out of the total of 573 candidates presented for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, 236 qualified for admission to tertiary institutions as compared to 47 students who qualified the previous year.
“From a very humble beginning, the school is poised to take its rightful place among the academic giants in the region and the nation as a whole,” the headmaster said.
Touching on the impact of the Bawku conflict on the school, Mr Kpuli said the protracted conflict within the municipality had affected the efforts of both staff and students in meeting the set goals of the school.
He said at least 12 competent staff left the school last year for security reasons but through hard work, the school’s management did well to get replacement for some of them.
He said “academic work was also sacrificed because the staff always lived in constant fear.”
One can say that but for the general state of insecurity created by the conflict, academic results for the past three years would have been better.
Thank God there is now some hope as peace is returning to the municipality.
Mr Kpuli commended the outgoing executive of the PTA under the leadership of Alhaji Azangbeogo Yakubu, for their support and co-operation.
He expressed the hope that the new leadership of the PTA under the chairmanship of Mr Anthony Akudugu would see the school chalking up more successes as it headed towards its 50th anniversary celebration in 2013.