SCHOOLS URGED TO SUSTAIN HIGH LEVEL OF DISCIPLINE (PAGE 11, DEC 13, 2010)

VICE- President, John Mahama, has urged management, staff and students of schools in the Upper East Region not to relent in their efforts to promote and sustain high standards of discipline since it forms the key foundation to achieve academic excellence.
The Vice-President made this remark in a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tetteh-Enyo, at the 50th anniversary celebration of Notre Dame Seminary/Senior High School at Navrongo in the Upper East Region.
The advice comes at the heels of some serious indiscipline demonstrated in some schools in the region in the course of the year which saw students in not less than five senior high and technical schools embarking on demonstration resulting in temporary closure of these schools.
“I have a firm belief that the upsurge of immoral activities and some of the problems we are faced with today could be minimised or eliminated, should students in this country resolve to be honest and hardworking and grow up with these attributes before they mature into adult life or enter into a world of work,” the Vice-President noted.
He, however, commended staff and students of Notre Dame for their achievements in the past and their continuous dedication to contribute their quota to the provision of affordable access to quality education to the youth and urged them to sustain it.
The Vice-President reassured all that the government was committed to provide an educational system which liberates the minds of future leaders and equip them with creative and innovative skills.
He added that government had taken note of the challenges facing the school and would do whatever possible within limited budgetary provisions to assist the school to improve upon its facilities to make teaching and learning more meaningful.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, an alumnus of the school, said the government was aware of the enormous challenges posed by the four year SHS and had, therefore, embarked on the provision of massive infrastructure in all senior high schools in the country.
He added that in the Upper East Region, nine 6-unit classroom blocks and eight dormitory blocks and Kitchen /Dining halls costing GH¢ 11,310,430.63 were under construction.
Mr Woyongo said equally worth noting was the fact that the government would continue to provide subsidy to all students in the senior high schools, as well as scholarship to all students of northern extraction, adding that the government was working assiduously to make sure that salaries of teachers were competitive with other professionals.
The acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Lawrence Satuh, an alumnus who delivered the keynote address, said Notre Dame from the onset had made a conscious effort to go for quality and not quantity, stressing that there was no wonder the status quo in terms of academic excellence had prevailed in the school with consistent enviable records.
“Notre Dame has sustained and thrived all these years based on the quest for excellence, hard work, sheer determination to succeed”, he said and tasked the current student body to emulate the proud achievement of the past students.
The Rector and Headmaster of the school, Rev. Fr. Francis Kudelogo, commended the founding fathers of the school for laying a strong foundation that had made the school what it is today.
For her part, the acting Regional Director of Education, Mrs Agnes Atagabe, urged parents to embrace the government's scholarship package for science and mathematics students in each district.
As part of the golden jubilee celebration, 10 institutions and individuals were honoured for their dedication and continuous contributions towards the growth of the school. They were Navro-Pio Kwara Kadatua, Missionaries of Africa, Presentation Brothers, The IHM Sisters and Rev. Fr. Francis Maddens.
The rest were Mr Mark Woyongo, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, Mr Kenneth Anewenah, Mr Dominic Soree and Mr Robert Atiiga.