By Isaac Arkoh
Cape Coast, Nov. 13, GNA – Many students at Mfantsipim School sit on plastic chairs in some classrooms due to inadequate furniture for the increasing number of students.
Speaking at the school’s 147th Anniversary, Speech and Prize Giving Day, on the theme: “The role of digital technology in redefining quality and sustainable education in Ghana,” Reverend Ebenezer Aidoo, the Headmaster, said the state of affairs was affecting teaching and learning.
“Inadequate classroom furniture is a big challenge. Our furniture deficit stands at 250 .”
Certificates, plaques, cash prizes and books sponsored by various groups of old boys and individuals, were presented to students some current and former students awarded for their distinct and excellent performance at the 2022 West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
Hundreds of Mfantsipim Old Boys Association (MOBA) in their beautifully designed attire with the school’s crest on them graced the colourful ceremony.
Mr. Aidoo pleaded with the government to complete two dormitory blocks, two classroom blocks, new Assembly and Dining Halls to accommodate the increasing enrolment as well as a school bus to facilitate field trips.
He also decried the high cost of electricity as the school runs on prepaid, saying: “We are on prepaid, and we always struggle to purchase power.”
“From January to October 2023, we have spent GHC240,000 on prepaid. Fortunately, the government has given us GHC89,000, leaving a deficit of GHC15,000. This is indeed stressful and frustrating.”
Nevertheless, Mr. Aidoo assured that the management of the School remained focused on working hard to achieve success, despite the challenges.
“I hereby appeal to all stakeholders to come on board to help us move the school forward. Everyone’s contribution matters.
“It’s my fervent prayer that the good Lord will continue to inspire and grant us the grace to excel in the years ahead,” he added.
“Though we are determined to succeed against all odds, yet, the lack of furniture situation is a demotivation to students, and we want the situation remedied with dispatch by authorities,” he further appealed.
Dressed in traditional African regalia, the School Prefect, Master Peter Abeeku Appiah-Thompson in his anniversary speech, corroborated the dire need for furniture as well as the infrastructure deficit in the school.
Other students in their red, black and white outfits with a neat red customized bow-tie to match, in separate interviews with the Ghana News Agency, called for support.
Most Reverend Dr Paul Kwabena Boafo, Presiding Bishop of Methodist Church Ghana, urged the students to imbibe the values of Christianity and live morally upright lives in the society, in line with a command from Christ to be the salt and light of the world.
It is also in recognition that the Church was supposed to stand firm and not allow the gates of hell to prevail against it.
Mfantsipim School, established in April 1876 by the Methodist Church in Cape Coast the then Gold Coast, is an all-boys Senior High School that fosters intellectual, moral and spiritual growth in its students.
Its founding name was Wesleyan High School with James Picot, a French scholar, as the Headmaster who was only 18 years old on his appointment.
In 1905, a graduate of the school, Mr John Mensah Sarbah, established a rival school called Mfantsipim; the name is derived from “Mfantsefo-apem,” which literally means “thousands of Fantes” or “the gathering of hosts of scholars for change” as originally conceived by the Fantes.
In July of that year, the two schools merged under the supervision of the Methodist Church, and the name Mfantsipim was retained.
The school’s founder, John Mensah-Sarbah, stated at its inception that its goal was “to train up God-fearing, respectable, and intelligent lads.”
GNA