NO CLASSROOMS @ BEREKUM PRESEC (JUNIOR GRAPHIC, NOV 17, 2010, PAGE 3)

About 500 newly admitted Form One students of the Berekum Presbyterian Senior High School (Berekum Presec) have no classrooms for their lessons.
However, as an interim measure, the authorities have decided to convert the school’s library block and the science laboratory into classrooms for their use.
In addition, an uncompleted headmaster’s bungalow which started about 10 years ago is currently being used by the Form One students as a hostel, owing to the acute accommodation problem in the school.
Mr Joseph Mensah-Diawuo, the Headmaster, who disclosed this at the maiden Speech and Prize-giving Day of the school, indicated that the school needed classrooms, an assembly hall, computer and science laboratories, hostels for boys and girls, staff bungalows, a home science centre and a vehicle.
The theme for the celebration was: “Educating the Youth for National Development: The Role and Challenges of Less-Endowed Schools”.
He pointed out that the time had come for the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to direct their attention at less-privileged schools in the country such as Berekum PRESEC by providing them with basic needs to promote teaching and learning.
The headmaster emphasised that in spite of the constraints, Berekum Presec was doing very well academically under strict Presbyterian discipline.
According to Mr Mensah-Diawuo, in 2005 the school won the first position in the National Science Fair competition, placed first and second in 2008, took the second and fourth positions in 2009 and came third this year.
In the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), he described the school’s performance as impressive and announced that from 2005 to 2009 it scored 100 per cent passes, explaining that out of the 298 students presented in 2009, 289 passed in six, seven or eight subjects.
The headmaster expressed his heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the teachers for their dedication and hard work and disclosed that in 2001 one of them, Ms Cecilia Yeboah, was the second runner-up in the National Best Teacher awards.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, said the government had decided to construct a six-unit classroom block and a three-storey girls’ dormitory for the school.