Two Greater Accra Schools upgraded

Story: Kate Baaba Hudson & Emmanuel Bonney
TWO senior high schools in the Greater Accra Region have been upgraded to model school status and are yet to be connected to the national electric grid.
They are the Odorgonno Senior High School at Awoshie, a surburb of Accra, and Ghanatta Senior High School at Dodowa in the Dangme West District in the Greater Accra Region.
This came to light when a Daily Graphic team visited the schools to have first-hand information on the progress of work being carried out there.
At the Odorgonno Senior High School, the boys and girls dormitories, which would cater for about 900 students, had been completed. The bed frames were being polished at the time of the visit.
The new administration, dining hall, assembly hall, computer laboratory, home science block, headmistress bungalow, a six-unit apartment staff bungalow and four other staff bungalows, two-unit 12 classroom blocks had also been completed and are ready for use. The library project was still under construction.
The school, which is part of 20 schools that have been completed under the model school project, has a vast land which could be developed through the provision of other facilities to cater for more students.
The assistant Headmaster of the school, Mr Alfred Tackie, who conducted the Daily Graphic team round, noted that the work was on course.
He said the electric poles were being fixed for the connection of electricity to the school, which he described as having a “great future”.
He said the new assembly hall could accommodate about 1,500 students.
During the tour of the new site of the Ghanatta Senior High School, it was discovered that both water and electricity were yet to be connected to the school.
The school authorities have to purchase water everyday for use by students and staff residing on campus. A generator is also used to provide light during supper and prep.
At the time of the visit, workers were seen putting finishing touches to the fence for the two girls’ dormitories.
The foreman of Rahma Company Limited, which is in-charge of the project, Mr Ebenezer Odonkor, noted that had it not been for the additional works; the fence wall, gutters, roads, parks and sick bay, the company would have completed the work and handed over the project.
He said there were no challenges as far as the progress of work was concerned.
The Headmaster of the school, Mr James Adote Myers, said an amount of ¢25 billion had been pumped into the project on the new site.
The school’s two-unit 12 classroom block, computer laboratory, Home Economics Department, Visual Arts, Library, dining hall and kitchen have all been completed.
The school has a population of 1,200 students, 1,000 of whom are boarders.
However, the assembly hall is yet to be constructed.
Twenty-one schools have so far been upgraded. They are out of the 31 schools which are being upgraded nationwide.
The schools are; Edinaman, Hwidiem, Asuogyaman, Drobo, Adu Gyamfi, Effiduase, Konongo, Wa, Lawra, Tamale, Damongo, Bolgatanga, Bawku, Odorgonno, Amenfiman, Baidoo Bonsoe, Shama, Adidome, Bueman, Oda and Twifo Praso Senior High Schools.