Management of the Mfantsiman Girls’ Senior High School (SHS) at Saltpond in the Central region has appealed for the construction of new dormitories and a classroom block to mitigate the challenge of overcrowding in the school.
Headmistress of the school, Mrs Phyllis Arthur-Simpson during the 62nd Speech and Prize-giving Day held over the weekend said, “the school which started in 1960 with 70 students now has an enrolment of over 5000.”
This represents 7,042% increase in student population within the 62 year period, woefully unmatched by the slow infrastructure provision.
The school has teaching staff strength of 146 and 92 non-teaching staff.
The event was held on the theme: “Solution-Based Training for Girls: The Panacea for Academic Excellence.”
The Headmistress said, “with the increase in our school population available infrastructure has become woefully inadequate and organizing activities which bring all students together has become a big challenge.”
Overcrowded, with the attendant pressure on existing, woefully inadequate facilities, Mrs Arthur-Simpson made a plea for a 5000 seating capacity Assembly hall for use for school gatherings.
She appealed for the re-construction of the school’s drains which she indicated were all “in a bad shape.”
“Management would appreciate their re-construction to enable the free flow of water,” the Headmistress stated.
Mrs Arthur-Simpson further called for the school to be walled to protect the students and staff from intruders and encroachment.
“As a girls’ school, our safety and security is important. If we are not careful, the vision of our founding fathers will disappear. It is in the light of this that l am making a special appeal for our school to be walled. First because it will protect our girls and second because it will hold the land to protect it from continuous encroachment,” she explained.
Mrs Arthur-Simpson said the school’s sporting activities had been stalled due to the poor shape of the school field, noting, “Mfantsiman, which used to be the best when it came to sports, is no longer on top.”
If the school field could be rehabilitated and brought to standard it will go a long way to serve not only the school but the entire Mfantsiman community, she said.
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In spite of the challenges, management of the school paid glowing tribute to the efforts the teachers, the old students, known as the Mfantsiman Old Girls Association (MOGA), parents and stated and non-state actors for contributing their quota to the development of the school.
Madam Arthur-Simpson was thankful that the school had over the years benefited from a number of government projects, which included a one storey dormitory block, a yet to be completed two-storey emergency dormitory block, a 12-unit Classroom Block Completed while a 24-unit Classroom Block commenced in 2006 was still on-going.
The school had also received 1,500 classroom furniture, 520 bunk beds, 440 mattresses and 90 pieces of office chairs.
The MOGA had commenced the construction of a school library, undertaken the renovation of Butler house and extended the Visual Arts block.
