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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has advised students of the Lawra Senior High School (SHS) in the Upper West Region (UWR) to take their studies seriously and build their potential to become responsible future leaders who will contribute to the nation’s development.

The President gave the advice when he joined the staff and students of the school to climax the celebration of its golden jubilee anniversary celebrations at Lawra at the weekend.

The celebration was on the theme: “Honouring our Past and Creating Academic Excellence for Ghana’s Future”.

He said the SHS was an exciting and special period in the formative years of every child since they learnt a lot of things, including building good or bad relationships and making critical life-long decisions that could impact positively on their lives.

He said he was happy to note that since the introduction of the free SHS policy two years ago, 270,000 more children had been admitted to the SHS, stressing that the government introduced the policy so that every child, no matter the economic background of the parents, would benefit from it.

He disclosed that to provide an immediate solution to some of the challenges associated with the system, the government, through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), was in the process of securing a $1.5 billion loan facility to construct more facilities for schools.

Functional education

The President said the government also intended to make education at both the basic and SHS more functional to meet the demands of the 21st Century and as such the curriculum at those levels were being reviewed to focus more on the study of science, technology and engineering.

For the Lawra SHS, he said a new assembly hall complex was to be constructed through the GETFund.

The President also directed the Upper West Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to liaise with the Lawra Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) and the traditional authorities to find a lasting solution to the school’s boundary issue to pave the way for the construction of the boundary wall.

He said while Lawra had been selected among the 20 towns in the country for the establishment of a Technical/Vocational Educational Centre, the government also had plans for the other SHS in the area, that is the Brifoh SHS, the only day school in the area.

According to the President, the government intended to equip it into a model SHS by constructing more facilities such as a science laboratory, administration block, dining hall and dormitories to enable the school to be turned into a boarding one.

He also said they would complete the abandoned community SHS at Bo-Domwini which was started by his predecessor, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, to offer more access to children in the area.

The President commended the first Headmaster of the school, Alhaji Rahim Gbadamosi, who is still alive, for instilling high standard of discipline into the students over the years, turning out responsible people who are contributing in diverse roles to the development of the country.

Commendation

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, MrAnthony Karbo, who is also an old boy of the school, commended the President for visiting the area on three occasions, saying he was the first President to visit the school since its establishment.

The Headmaster of the school, Mr Yeng Simon Bonsodong, thanked the President for the visit and said the school which was established on October 11, 1968 with 55 students and two teachers, currently had 1,964 students made up of 1,321 boys and 643 girls who offer General Science, General Arts, Business and Home Economics.

The Paramount Chief of the Lawra Traditional Area, Naa Puowele Karbo III, thanked the government for the bold attempt in instituting the free SHS policy and called on all to make it succeed.