Aburi Girls SHS makes significant progress

THE Aburi Girls’ Senior High School (ABUGISS) has undergone significant transformation over the past nine years as a result of the passion, devotion and visionary leadership of the current Headmistress, Mrs Sylvia Asempa.
In the past, the school was faced with acute water problem, making it routine for parents and guardians to transport water to their children and wards in the school.
It was also confronted with inadequate infrastructure, such as accommodation facilities for teachers and students.
Today, a visit to the school shows that the acute water problem which bedevilled the school in the past has been resolved. Now there is a 24-hour flow of water in every part of the school following the construction of boreholes, artesian wells and the provision of other water facilities, including polytanks.
Presently, there are pipes linking the various dormitories, the science laboratories, staff bungalows, the kitchens and the dining halls, leading to uninterrupted flow of water. In addition to this, the roofs of most of the buildings have eaves gutters which are connected to reservoirs and polytanks.
In addition, the school has built a sachet water production plant, the first of its kind in a senior high school in the country. With the facility, which is funded by the parent-teacher-association (PTA), a student is given a bag of the sachet water a week at a cost of GH¢8 per term.
Furthermore, the school has constructed 23 teachers’ bungalows to add to the 31 already there.
According to Mrs Asempa, "Only eight teachers live outside the school."
On Saturday, May 29, 2010, the school, with the motto: Bepow So Hann, will mark its 64th speech and prize-giving day. During the event, a refurbished Chemistry laboratory, estimated at GH¢32,000, and a two-bedroom flat will be inaugurated.
"Every year, we inaugurate two projects through the support of the old students, the PTA, companies and well wishers. The list of their contributions to the school is endless. No sooner has one project been inaugurated than another springs up," the headmistress said, and commended all those who had supported in diverse ways to improve facilities in the school.
Narrating her success story to the Daily Graphic, Mrs Asempa said three months after assuming the headship of the school in 2001, she expanded the dining hall, with support from the European Union Micro Project, and built an additional bath house to cater for the students.
She added that when she realised that some students were residing in a hostel outside the school, she decided to cut down admission, to the displeasure of stakeholders, adding that she took the bold decision to ensure that all the students would have accommodation on the compound, since staying in a hostel outside the school led to truancy and indiscipline.
After renovating and expanding the five existing dormitories, a sixth dormitory, which has been named after Mrs Asempa, was built.
Mrs Asempa, nicknamed ‘Sylvia Is Coming (SIC)’ or ‘Ofie Wura’ by the students, said majority of the projects were executed during the long vacation.
She said all single lane walkways had been expanded, while new ones had been constructed.
On discipline, Mrs Asempa, who is due for retirement on December 27, 2010, said, "Our approach to discipline is continual," explaining that "it is a holistic system that ensures the total development of our girls so they can reap the full benefits of self-respect, self-dignity and confidence, not only for themselves but also their school and the nation".
On academic performance, she said the school had recorded good performance over the years, adding that last year eight girls obtained grade A in seven subjects, while one girl scored grade A in eight subjects. All 460 students passed in all the subjects, showing a pass rate of 100 per cent, while it was 99.5 per cent in 2008.
"This headmistress has been an extraordinary individual in the annals of this school. She took office when the whole society looked on with trepidation at the alarming challenges that confronted the school.
"She has worked undauntedly with extreme passion and devotion and has succeeded in turning the fortunes of the school around. She has scored a feat that is the talk of the whole nation. She has salvaged this national asset for the benefit of posterity," a letter signed by the PTA Chairman, Prof L. Enu Kwesi, and the PTA Secretary, Mr A.A. Owusu, said.
ABUGISS has a student population of 1,420 and runs programmes in Science, Arts, Business, Home Economics and Visual Arts.