Mr John-Peter Amewu, Hohoe Member of Parliament (MP) and Minister of Railway Development, has commissioned and handed over a newly built Girls Senior High School (SHS) to the Ghana Education Service.
The school known as Santa Esther Girls Senior High School, is located in Wli with its motto; “Empowerment, Service and Integrity.”
Mr Amewu said the people of Wli had been yearning for a second-cycle institution for many years adding that it was in fulfilling that wish that had become a reality.
He said the school would give the opportunity to young girls to rise and shine and it was good that the school was conceived within the framework of the free SHS policy.
Mr Amewu charged the Wli community to cooperate with school authorities to ensure full operation and promised to provide the needed support to ensure that the school competed with best Girl’s schools in the country.
He admonished the students not to despise their humble beginnings and commit themselves to hard work and diligence and called on the teaching and non-teaching staff to be professional in their duties and instill discipline in the students.
Mr Amewu said exchange programmes with the best Girl’s schools would be rolled out to boost confidence of students, and award schemes would be instituted to reward academic performances.
He said dormitories and teachers’ quarters would be completed, while calling on Wli diasporans to come on board to support construct the Headmistress bungalow.
Mr Amewu on behalf of the Claribel-Esther Foundation donated a pick-up vehicle to the school to enhance mobility and expressed gratitude to the President, Minister of Education, traditional authorities and all partners, whose efforts led to the success of the school.
Mr Francis Yao Agbemadi, Volta Regional Director of Education, said the school would be managed within the Ghana Education Service’s policy framework and directives and the Board of Governors and the Parent Teacher Association would be constituted soon.
Mr Agbemadi said there was the need for the school to be fenced and stakeholders must ensure that the school’s land was properly demarcated and documented to prevent encroachment.
Madam Janet Valerie Datsa Agbotse, Hohoe Municipal Director of Education and Acting Headmistress of the School, said a 12-unit one-storey classroom block would be used as the school’s first facility as well as two dormitory blocks with bathrooms, washrooms, and washing and ironing base.
She said Business, Home Economics, Computer Science and General Arts were the four courses being run by the school.
Madam Agbotse commended the enrollment drive in communities visited and noted that the school would soon become a sought-after in the near future.
She admonished the students to focus on their studies and avail themselves to be groomed while urging the staff to adopt a positive outlook to help them develop solutions to the challenges they face daily.
Mr Daniel Noble Awume, Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said it was depressing some communities and individuals still discriminated against the education of the girl child.
He said parents must see it as a need to educate their girl child and added that the Assembly would continue to invest in the educational infrastructure to improve teaching and learning in schools.
Mr Awume called for an effective maintenance culture of the facility since attitude towards maintenance nationwide had not been the best.
Togbe Loh I, Paramount Chief of Wli Traditional Area, said the Area would remain grateful for all the development projects they benefitted from the lobbying skills of Mr Amewu.
He said it was worth noting that the school was administered in a modern facility hence the Area must ensure that the maintenance of the facility remained their priority.
