Three senior high schools recall students

Page 11
Feb 1, 2008
Accommodation facilities provided by three senior high schools in Accra to be used as hostels for soccer fans during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana were not used.
Facilities of the schools namely, the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School (PRESEC), Achimota School and Accra Academy were to be used to accommodate visiting soccer fans.
Consequently, first and second-year students of the affected schools were asked to stay at home till the end of the competition which began on January 20, 2008.
Since the accommodation facilities are not being used, the schools have begun recalling their first and second-year students.
The Headmaster of PRESEC, Mr Africanus Anane, told the Daily Graphic that the affected students had been asked to report to school on February 4, 2008 instead of the proposed February 14, 2008.
He said the school made available 1,000 beds from six of their eight houses for supporters, adding that with the current situation the school authorities had to recall the students for academic work to begin.
He explained that recalling the students was an extra cost to the school since announcements had to be made in the media to get them back.
Mr Anane said the school had put in place measures to ensure that the period lost was covered.
He noted that the Local Organising Committee (LOC) might have overestimated the number of fans that were expected.
He said next time, the LOC should contact the embassies to know the number of people who would be coming, before making arrangements to accommodate them.
When the Daily Graphic got to the Achimota School, it realised that the first and second-year students had already reported. Some of the students said they were asked to report on Monday, January 28, 2008 when the authorities realised that the accommodation facilities would not be used.
At Accra Academy, the Assistant Headmaster (Academic), Mr C.T. Asare, said the school had made 200 beds available for fans, but because they could not use the facilities, the students had to be recalled.
He said the school had made provision for the period lost.
The Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Professor Dominic Fobih, said the move by the ministry was only a contingency measure to ensure that there was no accommodation problem for fans during the tournament.
He said when the embassies of the participating countries were contacted for the number of fans who would be attending the games, they could not give the actual number of fans, hence the decision by the ministry.
Before the commencement of the Ghana 2008 tournament, Prof. Fobih said academic activities in the selected schools were not going to be affected.
He said the necessary arrangements had been put in place to ensure that school work went on smoothly and that among the steps taken, the GES would add a few weeks to the academic calendar at the second-cycle level to make up for the time lost during the tournament.
According to the Ghana Education Service (GES), the schools whose accommodation facilities were to be used during the tournament were: Accra Academy, Presbyterian Boys’ SHS and Achimota School, all in Accra; Opoku Ware School, T.I. Ahmadiyya SHS and Kumasi Academy, all in Kumasi.
The Tamale SHS, Ghana SHS, Northern School of Business and Business SHS are those being used in Tamale. The rest of the schools from Sekondi-Takoradi are: Ghana Secondary/Technical School, Fijai SHS, St Mary’s SHS, Apowa, Saint John’s SHS and Sekondi College.