…To Addess Infrastructure Deficit
Tema Methodist Day Senior High School is appealing for support to construct a multi-purpose project, to help address the school’s infrastructure deficit.
The GHc125million project, which is being spearheaded by the MEDASS Old Students Association (MEDASSOSA) in collaboration with the management of the school is expected to bridge the infrastructure gap in the school which is hampering effective teaching and learning.
The multi-purpose project would contain offices, classrooms, an assembly hall with a sitting capacity of over 1,500 students, a dinning hall, a number of subject laboratories and a library.
Speaking at the 40th Anniversary celebration of the school, the Headmistress of the Tema Methodist Day Senior High School, Mrs. Juliana Nancy Frimpong stated that the school is in dire need of Infrastructure to meet its objective of providing a sustainable and impactful education to the youth of Tema and its environs.
“We are therefore using this opportunity to appeal to all stakeholders, corporate organizations, philanthropist and well-meaning Ghanaians to come to our aid to realize our dream of creating an enabling learning environment for our students,” she said.
Currently, she said the school is being run from two (2) different campuses which works against effective teaching and supervision.
She said a refurbished ICT Lab in the school is awaiting the supply of computers from the Ghana Education Service.
Mrs. Frimpong listed some on-going projects in the school which include a twenty (20) unit classroom project by Methodist University Ghana, a three (3) unit classroom block under construction by Tema Metropolitan Assembly, Construction of 14-seater washroom facility in the school which is being funded by African Development Bank, the construction of the School Gate and a wall at the back of the school to prevent intruders from entering the compound and an abandoned six (6) unit GETFund classroom block.
She urged teachers, students and old students not to rest on their oars but press on till the target of attaining a grade B category is achieved.
The President of the Medass Old Students Association, Mr. John Aseeph said they will marshal the needed stakeholders to raise the necessary fund for the construction of the multipurpose complex.
“Fortunately, MEDASS happens to be in the most industrial city so we will be taking this project to every company to solicit some support to build this project.
We will be engaging the Members of Parliament in Tema as well as central government to see the kind of support we can have for this project,” he said.
He was optimistic that if all stakeholders respond positively to their appeal, within the next 5 to 10years the multi-purpose complex will come to fruition.
Mr. Aseeph added that the completion of the project coupled with the school’s academic performance would enable it to be upgraded from a category C school to a category B school.
The Guest Speaker, Dr. Alberta Bondzi-Simpson, a Senior Lecturer, Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Cape Coast said infrastructural conditions of schools directly impact the performance of students.
“A calm, spacious, well lit, and visually appealing campus with useful and well-maintained facilities such as classrooms, labs, well stocked libraries, cafeterias or canteens, sports and social amenities, washrooms, administrative offices, storage and multi-purpose spaces and teachers lounges go a long way to improve the physical and psychological wellbeing of both staff and students,” she asserted.
With the advent of the computer placement system, she noted that boarding houses have become a necessity for the attraction of students into schools.
“I will thus suggest that, to make MEDASS more relevant in the current educational dispensation, we consider the development of boarding houses. This is to eliminate the geographical barrier and make the school competitive to attract the best students throughout the country. The Government through GET Fund can commit to this long-term project,” she advised.
Dr. Bondzi-Simpson who is also an old student of MEDASS urged the school to exploit Private Public Partnerships by galvanising support from private businesses who may have an interest in educational development through their corporate social responsibility platforms.
