Gov't urged to review yardstick for placement in SHS

Sonrise, a private Senior High School at Ho, has held its seventh graduation for a batch of finalists, with a call on government to review the policy of placing students with aggregates up to 42 through the centralised computerised system.

Mr Joseph Dzamesi, Administrator, said the policy left privately owned schools struggling to fill their schools, and suggested that government kept the cut-off point at aggregate 30, and liaise with private schools to absorb the rest.

Mr Dzamesi said the policy could be over-burdening poorly resourced public schools, which might not be able to transform the weak students to perform academically.

Sonrise High School, founded in 2005, is a co-educational secondary school, affiliated to the Church of Christ.

Mr Dzamesi said Sonrise compared with all public schools regarding logistics, tutelage, discipline, staff quality and academic performance.

He discounted the notion that private Senior High Schools were inferior to the publicly-owned ones.

The ceremony also marked the launch of the school’s Tenth Anniversary celebrations in September and October this year.

Mr Dzamesi said though many of the students admitted were not the prime ones, yet good management, discipline and above average tutoring always brought them out successfully.

He said 70 per cent of final year students sitting the West African School Certificate Examinations qualified to go into tertiary institutions.

He said in the last WASSCE, 90 per cent of science students had at least aggregate 24.

Ms Francisca Dzentu, Board Chairperson observed that the school’s successes over the past 10 years, were due to its uncompromising position on discipline.

Sonrise Secondary has awards across all segments, students and staff, to celebrate high performers.

They include the Richmond Best Students Awards, sponsored by the Clarence and Valle Richmond of Arkansas for best performers at the WASSCE, awards for long serving and hardworking staff and for good performance among continuing students and leadership awards for outgoing prefects.

Mr Stephen Mensah, a Chartered Accountant, who was the Guest Speaker, told the students that academic brilliance must move in concert with humility and hard work for success in life.

He said students must strive to excel in whatever fields they worked, low or high.

Mr Mensah said it was better students enrolled to pursue courses available locally, instead of journeying abroad, which could be so tiresome, to overturn their pursuits.

A total of 120 students completed the three-year course in Business (Accounting Option), General Science, General Arts and Home Economics, and were presented with certificates of attendance.

A handing over of commanders of the school’s Air Force Cadet Corp preceded the event.