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The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt Rev. Dr Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye, has urged Ghanaians to safeguard the long-standing harmony successful ngo schools by upholding communal respect betwixt spiritual groups and the proprietors of specified institutions.
He stressed that portion it was important to respect the rights of persons of antithetic faiths, those who accepted acquisition successful ngo schools indispensable besides respect the rights and identities of the schools’ owners.
“People of different faiths who entered ngo schools person respected the information that these schools were built to uphold definite values. The attempts by a fewer radical to ruffle the waters could endanger nationalist cohesion if not handled carefully.
“It is important that we respect the rights of persons of different religions. But it is besides important for persons of different religions who judge acquisition successful ngo schools to respect the rights of the owners of the ngo schools,” Rt Rev. Opare Kwakye said astatine the 87th Speech and Prize-Giving Day of the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School (PRESEC) successful Accra past Saturday.
The moderator’s remark comes successful the aftermath of caller contention implicit accepting divergent spiritual practices connected the premises of section acquisition institutions, peculiarly astatine the 2nd rhythm level, with an escalated mentation presently successful court.
Ablakwa’s thoughts
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, however, made a beardown lawsuit for preserving spiritual tolerance successful schools, describing the country’s secondary schoolhouse strategy arsenic a crucible for nation-building.
He said generations of Ghanaians had learnt to coexist peacefully due to the fact that secondary schools exposed students to antithetic backgrounds, cultures and beliefs.
“Our secondary schoolhouse architecture has been the astir potent antidote to favoritism and prejudice. It is successful secondary schools that we larn that nary 1 from different portion of Ghana is simply a threat, and that diverseness enriches us,” helium said.
The minister, a past pupil of PRESEC, questioned wherefore the country, globally celebrated for spiritual tolerance, was abruptly grappling with caller tensions.
He drew connected lessons from the National Chief Imam’s historical beingness successful churches and his ain acquisition hosting the Chief Imam successful his location to exemplify the country’s unsocial interfaith harmony.
He urged that the country’s absorption should not beryllium connected strict doctrines oregon outward expressions of religiosity, but connected the communal humanity and emotion for 1 another.
Mr Ablakwa said the much important nationalist interest should beryllium astir the values the country’s acquisition strategy was producing.
He asked: “Why is our acquisition strategy producing graduates who make thousands of shade names to bargain from the state? Why are we producing graduates who destruct our situation and harm nationalist wellness conscionable for greed?”
The curate emphasised the request for an acquisition doctrine that built ethical leadership, captious thinking, accountability and discipline.
Event
This year’s celebration, held connected the theme: “Celebrating our heritage: Shaping aboriginal leaders done subject and world excellence”, brought unneurotic past students from respective twelvemonth groups, parents, authorities officials and clergy of the Presbyterian Church.
Recognition was fixed to 47 erstwhile students who scored consecutive 8As successful the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa presented each of the 47 precocious achievers with brand-new laptops to enactment their tertiary acquisition and aboriginal world journeys.
In addition, respective students who excelled successful assorted subjects, disciplines and sports received awards for their exceptional performances implicit the world year.
The Headmaster of the school, David Odjidja, highlighted the school’s awesome world outcomes.
He revealed that retired of the 2024 WASSCE cohort, 47 students scored 8As, 106 had 7As, 117 obtained 6As, 270 students recorded aggregate 6, and astir 800 candidates achieved single-digit aggregates.
He further mentioned that the school’s show successful the halfway subjects remained exceptionally strong.
Out of 1,933 candidates, 1,686, representing 87.2 per cent, scored A1–B3 successful Social Studies, 1,685 obtained A1–B3 successful English Language, 1,548, representing 80.1 per cent, recorded A1–B3 successful Core Mathematics, and 1,632, representing 84.5 per cent, achieved A1–B3 successful Integrated Science.
Challenges
Despite each the achievements, the headmaster outlined important challenges confronting the school, driven mostly by rising enrolment and the continuing double-track system.
He said the schoolhouse faced large deficits successful schoolroom furniture, dormitory beds, room seating, eating hallway furnishings and wide assembly space.
He disclosed that though the schoolhouse had six subject laboratory spaces, 3 of them provided by the religion and the different 3 by the government, nary of them had been equipped, and, therefore, remained locked.
To enactment the government’s program to modulation each double-track schools to single-track by the 2027/2028 world year, Mr Odjidja said the schoolhouse urgently required a 48-unit schoolroom artifact with furniture, 6,000-capacity dormitory blocks, 15 further subject laboratories and six machine laboratories.
He appealed to the government, aged students, the religion and different stakeholders to assistance successful helping the schoolhouse modulation arsenic soon arsenic possible.
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