MPs clash over Wesley Girls

A statement made in parliament yesterday by Abena Osei-Asare, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Atiwa East in the Eastern Region, on the 180th anniversary of Wesley Girls’ High School in Cape Coast, Central Region – which falls today – evoked a lot of strong emotions amongst MPs.

It ignited a debate as to which second cycle school is the best in the country after some MPs had described the school as the best academically.

The nerves of most of the MPs were touched when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member for Cape Coast South, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, said that Wesley Girls’ High School is seen by many as one of the best schools in the country, and added that Cape Coast is where most of the best schools in the country are located.

His statement made many of the MPs, mostly the males, to spring out of their seats to contest that assertion, with the NPP MP for Old Tafo, Anthony Akoto Osei, also arguing strongly that the best senior high schools are located in Accra and that Achimota School, which is his alma mater, is one of them.

The female MPs who are ‘Old Girls’ of Wesley Girls’ such as Zenator Rawlings, NDC MP for Klottey-Korley and Babara Asher Ayisi, NPP MP for Cape Coast North, came to defend the Cape Coast South MP saying, Wesley Girls’ High School, popularly known as WEY GEY HEY, is “one of the best – if not the best” – in the country and has produced strong women of integrity who are contributing their quota to the development of the nation.

Abena Osei-Asare, who is also a product of the school, making the commemorative statement, said that Wesley Girls’ High School has produced women who have contributed a lot to the development of the nation, recollecting the roles played by the late Dr Mrs Mary Grant, first female doctor in Ghana; Prof Florence Dolphyne, first female Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana; Dr Mrs Sylvia Boye, first female registrar of the West African Examination Council (WAEC); Dr Mrs Rosina Aboagyewaa Acheampong, first female Ghanaian headmistress of the school and first Deputy Director General of the Ghana Education Service as well as Squadron Leader Melody Danquah, first female pilot of the Ghana Air Force.

The MP for Atiwa East said the celebration of WEY GEY HEY is also a celebration of the future that Ghana can be by producing citizens who can compete with the best in the world in all fields.

The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and NPP MP for Bekwai, Joseph Osei-Owusu, who said he attended Juaben Senior High School in the Ashanti Region, told the House that he would always remember what their headmaster used to tell them as students of that school.

According to him, the headmaster would always ask them to emulate the example of students of Wesley Girls’ High School who are always reading something at their spare time.

In her contribution, the NPP MP for Ablekuma North, Akua Afriyie, said that on such anniversaries MPs must use the opportunity to encourage students who attended less endowed schools or ‘village’ schools to show greater determination and learn hard to become useful citizens.