By Kamal Ahmed
Klo-Agogo(E/R), June 20, GNA – Klo Agogo Senior High Technical School (SHTS) in the Yilo Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region is facing a significant infrastructure deficit, threatening to undermine its ability to provide quality education to students.
Despite being a key player in the municipality’s human capital development, the school is grappling with inadequate facilities, including a dilapidated library, insufficient classrooms, and poor sanitation facilities, among others.
This revelation was made during the school’s 2024 Student Representative Council Week celebration, which served as a backdrop for the unveiling of the school’s infrastructure challenges.
Klo-Agogo Senior High Technical School, established in 1991 as part of Ghana’s 1987 education reforms, has undergone significant growth since its humble beginnings with 35 students.
Today, the school has a population of 925 students, comprising 363 boys and 562 girls. Of these, 694 are boarders and 231 are day students. The school is staffed by a team of 58 teaching professionals and 22 non-teaching staff.”
Speaking during a durbar marking the SRC week, Mr. David Teye-Bi-Teye Agualey, Headmaster of the Klo-Agogo Senior High Technical School, appealed to the government, the Ghana Education Service (GES), and the Ministry of Education to provide assistance to help the school overcome its severe infrastructure deficit.
He noted that the school has lacked a permanent dining hall, assembly hall, ICT lab, and sufficient classrooms for teachers and non-teaching staff for the past 33 years, which has significantly impacted students’ academic performance.
“The school’s infrastructure continued to deteriorate while enrolment continued to soar each year, which had an impact on the school’s academic achievement.” he stated.
He noted that the two-storey building block that was started in 2012 which was supposed to complement the classroom facilities has been abandoned.
“The school bus, which was donated to the school in 2016, is similarly in poor condition, and also, while the school’s population is rising, facilities for teaching and learning are not being developed,” he added.
The headmaster reiterated his appeal to the government and relevant agencies to come to the school’s rescue, reiterating the urgent need for infrastructure development.
The Chairman of the Durbar, a retired Commissioner of Police, and the Asafoatse of the Atua Manya Division of the Manya Krobo Traditional Area, Nene Odjeblema Angmortey, encouraged students not to be discouraged by the school’s facility deficit.
Instead, he urged them to work hard to achieve their academic goals.
Mr Albert Tetteh Nyarkotey, Member of Parliament for Yilo Krobo Constituency, expressed his support for the school and called on all parties involved to work together to address the infrastructure shortfall.
The school head prefect, Ms Priscilla Keni Awatey, also made a passionate appeal to stakeholders to help the school establish a sickbay, so that students can receive medical attention when needed.
She also urged the government, through GES and the Ministry of Education, to provide classroom furniture, highlighting that the lack of furniture and classrooms has led to an unsustainable student-to-classroom ratio, with small classrooms originally designed for 30 students now holding over 50 students per class.
Meanwhile, the Old Students Association donated a notice board to facilitate information sharing among students and staff.
The 2011 group also donated GH¢2,000 to support the school’s development.
GNA