Odorgonno @ 77: a peep into its success

With a bold mission to mobilise and utilise relevant resources towards the attainment of academic excellence and child preparedness for life, the Odorgonno Senior High School (SHS) has since its establishment trained thousands of Ghanaian children in second-cycle education.

The school prides itself on being among Ghana’s best citadels of education and contributing more than its share of the nation’s human resource. It is, therefore, not surprising that the school goes by the slogan, “Great OSSA: Moko B?”, a Ga expression that means “there’s none other”. Indeed, Odorgonno is exceptionally exceptional.

Identity:

The School Motto is Nobis Ntendum est: Ours is to Strive. The school was founded on the crest of the Odaw River in Accra. This gave rise to the name Odorgonno. Its slogan: Great OSSA: Moko B? was derived from one great feat of the then Odorgonno Secondary School football team alone representing Ghana’s Black Stars in a football match against Nigeria. The OSSA team defeated Nigeria mercilessly. Thus we say Great, Great, Great OSSA: Moko, moko, moko b?!!!

History

Established in 1940 at Adabraka in the Greater Accra Region by Mr Joseph Thomas Leigh and his three friends, who were all teachers at the Accra High School, Odorgonno was later absorbed into the government system and moved from its initial location to its present location at Awoshie also in Accra in 1990.

Originally a Boys Day School, the school became a Co-educational Institution in 1993 and received boarding status in 2007.

Additionally, Odorgonno SHS gained model school status on November 25, 2008, with 16 structures being added to the school’s existing facilities. Having gained the model school status, students and staff population of the school continue to soar.

Currently, Great OSSA has a student population of 2,671 and a staff strength of 183, including 53 non-teaching staff. These dedicated and highly motivated staff ensure the smooth running of academic and co-curricular activities in the school.

Administration

Great OSSA is governed by a 13-member Board of Governors with Mrs. Asiedua Addo-Yobo as its Chairman. A five-member Management team, including Mr Bernard Okai (Assist. Head, Academic); Ms Peace Puplampu (Assist. Head, Domestic), Mrs Makaria Dadzie (Assist. Head, Administration), and Mr Brown Aformanor (Substantive Accountant) is headed by the Headmistress of the school, Dr Mrs Shine Ofori.

Successes / Achievement

Great O SSA runs a special timetable to give holistic development to students. Thus, co-curricular activities occupy essential positions on the school’s annual calendar.

It is no wonder that Odorgonno stands tall in inter-school sporting activities as well as District, Regional and National quiz competitions. From the beginning of this year alone, the school has won several Awards in the field of Academic Work, Scripture Union, Business Development, Cadet, School Choir and many, many more areas of student development.

Being a Grade A school and belonging to Category 1, the school has registered its name in the books as one of the best SHS in Ghana. Great OSSA was ranked third in Greater Accra Region in 2015 and it continues to improve academically.

Among the courses offered in the school, General Arts stands as the most popular.

Students in the other programme areas: Business, Science, Agriculture, Visual Arts and Home Economics equally make their remarkable achievements all the time.

French/staff awards

Ms.Beverly Nartey, a teacher of the school was selected as the Second National Best French Teacher in the 2017 Teachers Awards celebration held in Koforidua in the Eastern Region.

Ms.Nartey in an interview said the school has instituted some programmes to ensure that its students received the best of tuition in the French language.

She was optimistic that the school would soon become the best school offering French at the SHS level in the country.

OSSA is also among the 54 schools selected across the country to pilot the National French Research in Functional French Education Project.

Other teachers in the areas of Mathematics, Social Studies and ICT have also been recognised at various levels.

STEM

The school participated in the National STEM Competition organized by the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) at Aburi Girls Secondary School and came first in this National Science Competition.

FAWE, with its interest in the development of the Girlchild, sponsored the winning student, Addicou Freda and the Head of Science Department (Mr.Atta Poku), to take the winning project from Odorgonno Senior High School to compete at the Africa Level in Zambia. The school came fourth out of 25 schools from Africa.

Challenges

Dr.Ofori said in spite of the numerous challenges bedeviling the school, OSSA continues to make giant strides in its academic pursuits. She said, for instance, that the school lacked a proper library and Science Laboratory. She expressed worry that it was disheartening that a school of its caliber could not boast of a well-resourced digitized library to facilitate teaching and learning.

She was also of the view that due to the vast area of the school, street lights were not adequate to meet the needs of the large population of students and staff in the school community.

In addition, she said, because the school had a low fence wall, people from the community scale the walls into the school for various unauthorized and undesirable activities.

Dr.Ofori said the school also had very limited number of security personnel to man the place, hence compounding their plethora of challenges. She lamented that there were only 10 members of staff living on the school compound and this posed a great challenge to management.

She pleaded with benevolent organisations, the government, NGOs as well as past students of the school to come to their aid to support with security and staff accommodation.

Dr.Ofori also bemoaned the location of the Arcadian Gas Station in the school. She said its presence was a threat to safety and development. She appealed for a quick evacuation of any trace of gas and gas tankers from the vicinity of the school to improve safety.

One challenge that plagued the school was water shortage. She was quick to thank Cummins Incorporated which came along with Global Communities for recently donating washrooms, boreholes and several sanitation facilities to improve health and hygiene in the school.



Future plans

Touching on new plans of the school, Dr.Ofori said the school was mapping out intensive and extensive strategies for academic improvement. She hoped the school Science Lab and Library would receive a boost for completion and immediate use. Dr.Ofori was of the view that staff accommodation on campus would also enhance school life tremendously.

She intimated that the school intended to transform part of its forest reserves into an eco-recreational centre.

That, she said, could be used by both students and teachers for relaxation and outdoor activities. It could also serve other members of the community for recreational purposes.

She said because the school had not made any meaningful use of the forest reserve, some members of the community were gradually turning the place into a dumpsite.

Provisions

The Chairman of the Parents Teacher Association (PTA), Mr.S. T. Martey said the PTA would continue to support the school to deliver on its core mandate.

He said it was the PTA’s wish was to see none of the students from the school writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) a second time.

He, however, urged parents to provide the necessary logistical needs for their wards in order to enable them to pass their exams with distinction.

The Chairperson of the Board of Governors, Mrs.Asiedua Addo-Yobo, in an interview said the Board would work to create a conducive academic environment for both students and teachers to produce the desired results.

77th Anniversary and Speech and Prize-Giving Day

Odorgonno SHS will mark its 77th anniversary on Saturday, November 11, this year, at the School’s Durbar Grounds to celebrate its successes and map out new strategies for the school in the years ahead. Hardworking staff and students will be rewarded during the occasion.

The anniversary is expected to bring together past and current students of the school as well as parents, teachers, government officials and other stakeholders.



The celebration, on the theme: “Modelling academic excellence and development of talents for life”, will be graced by the Mayor of Accra, Hon. Mohammed Adjei Sowah, an Old Student (OPSA 93) and the Ga Central Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Dr.Emmanuel Lamptey.