THE KROBO QUILL: ODUMASE PRESBY SCHOOL SCORES 100 PERCENT IN 2010 BECE

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The Senior Airtel Staff and reps from the Manya Krobo Traditional Council in a pose with the students after the awards ceremony

The best three students in a pose with Mrs Fafali Dzobo, HR Director of Airtel

The Odumase Presbyterian Junior High School in Manya Krobo, recorded 100 per cent pass rate in its 2010 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). All 22 pupils presented by the school passed.

After more than a century of neglect, the Presbyterian School slumped to 43 per cent pass rate in the 2009 BECE.

The current achievement has raised hopes and brought smiles to the faces of the school authorities and parents, just a year after the refurbishment of the school’s infrastructure.

Before the transformation, the school recorded an abysmal 43 per cent pass rate which was largely attributed to the unfriendly academic environment characterised by crumbling buildings and falling debris, broken chairs and ripped-off roofs, compelling some parents to withdraw their wards to other schools while the teachers also issued threats of deserting their post to ensure their safety.

The best grade last year was aggregate 17, but this year’s had seen a sharp arise in the performance, bringing the best grade to 12 with all candidates scoring grades between 12 and 25, qualifying them for Senior High School which hitherto was not the case.

The Headmaster, nene Seth Ayertey, delivering his speech on the day

The headmaster of the school, Nene Seth Ayertey said, “The success is really overwhelming and this stands to the credit of Zain, having made teaching and learning in the school fun, motivating both teachers and students. We stepped up supervision, teaching and learning in the school, as such we expected an improvement but, frankly speaking, the performance of the students is really phenomenal”, he added.

He said the decrease in the number of candidates compared to last year’s was because “many parents could not stand the life-threatening conditions of the school prior to Zain’s intervention, compelling them to withdraw their wards to schools where their safety could be guaranteed”.

On what caused the sharp rise in the performance, Nene Ayertey said, “The building, the accompanying facilities and the environment, both in and outside the classrooms complemented academic activities”.

“Now the teachers are all out to offer their best while the students have also accepted the challenge of proving themselves worthy of the gesture by studying harder”.

“We are certain of not only sustaining the 100 per cent mark but recording single grades with the next and subsequent batches who would have benefited from the facility longer than their predecessors who merely benefited for six months prior to the examinations”, he said, adding “we will do everything humanly possible to achieve this feat next year”.

The Corporate Communications Manager of Zain Ghana, Mrs. Carmen Bruce Annan, said “It’s satisfying seeing our initiatives, particularly in the area of education, making a lifelong impact on the inhabitants of our host communities, especially children who will soon be need to step out in confidence to take up the mantle of leadership in their communities and the nations at large”.

She said theirs was a full commitment to helping raise the standard of education in the country. “We demonstrated our strong commitment by posting a Computer Engineering graduate to teach Information Communications Technology in the school for a whole year and also paid for the internet access in the school”, she said.