CREATE CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENTS (PAGE 11)

SCHOOL authorities must create a conducive environment and platform for students to dialogue with them to solve problems facing their schools, a lecturer at the Department of Crop Science at the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Daniel Obeng-Ofori, has advised.
He noted that the absence of effective internal communication channels to enable students to express their views and put across their grievances for redress by school authorities had led to some of the violent confrontations witnessed in some schools in recent times.
Prof. Obeng-Ofori, who made the call at the 43rd anniversary and speech and prize-giving day of the Bechem Presbyterian Senior High School (PRESEC) in the Tano South District of the Brong Ahafo Region, said ensuring a convenient atmosphere was better than to allow the situation to degenerate into violent confrontations.
The occasion was on the theme: “The Importance of Formal Education to National Orientation”.
He called on all stakeholders to play their roles effectively, to ensure that schools in the country produced individuals or students who were disciplined enough for the socio-economic development of the nation.
Prof. Obeng-Ofori stated that if the nation was to have disciplined and hardworking citizens then parents must play their expected roles towards instituting discipline in their children, since that function did not occur in a vacuum.
"Practising good governance in the homes, schools, workplaces and churches, established the developmental process in a disciplined manner. The quality of parent-child relationship determines the type of peers that teenagers choose,” he stressed.
He advised students to search for academic discipline that would guide them to become good citizens of the country.
Prof. Obeng-Ofori urged students to try to strive to achieve academic excellence through discipline in order to become good citizens for their families, communities, as well as the country, saying irresponsible future leaders compromised excellence and discipline.
The Headmaster of the school, Mr Francis Yaw Asamoah, said the current total population of the school stood at 1,437 made up of 927 males and 510 females.
He disclosed that the certified results of the school's West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for 2008 saw an improvement over the previous year’s, with 99.7 passes.
The headmaster disclosed that the school saw massive infrastructure developments under the model school project of the previous government.
Mr Asamoah said the school also benefited from the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), which was constructing a five-room kitchen block at a cost of GH¢11,500, as well as providing the school with drying lines and fire extinguishers, while the old students association also assisted the school with dustbins and books as prizes to the students.
He appealed for the construction of a Visual Arts block and more staff bungalows for the school, as well as the re-roofing and re-wiring of the school's administration block.
Students and staff who distinguished themselves in their various areas were rewarded.