Rev. Peter John Moss honoured by old students of Nkawkaw Secondary

The Old Students’ Association of the Nkawkaw Secondary School has honoured Rev. Peter John Moss, one of the Founders of Nkawkaw Secondary School at a dinner organised in his honour at Coconut Groove Hotel on the 17th of March 2016.

Rev. Peter John Moss, a British citizen who is currently an Anglican priest in the United Kingdom worked with Rev. Victor Buer Nartey-Tokoli in 1969 to lay the foundation for the development of Nkawkaw Secondary School.

He arrived in Ghana at the age of 28 and worked hard to create opportunities for high school education for students from deprived families.

Delivering his speech at the dinner, Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, the National Chairman of the Old Students’ Association of Nkawkaw Secondary School stated that the sacrifice of the late Rev. Victor Buer Nartey-Tokoli and Rev. Peter John Moss in the development of Nkawkaw Secondary has benefitted many people.

“I am a beneficiary of the extreme sacrifice made by Rev. Peter John Moss and the late Rev. Victor Buer Nartey-Tokoli to support their vision of making quality education accessible to the poor.”

Mr Owusu-Koranteng described Rev. Peter John as somebody who believed in the power of education to transform poor people into active and useful citizens so that they can contribute to the development of society.

“We are honouring Rev. Peter John Moss today as an unsung hero who should be celebrated for his life of sacrifice to serve as a sign post of excellence to our generation who may consider education only as a tool for privileges and not an opportunity to build ones potential to serve humanity.”

A citation of Honour from the Old Students’ Association of the Nkawkaw Secondary School described Rev. Peter John Moss as somebody who established a high reputation as an outstanding scholar and teacher of French, English and English Literature in addition to his responsibility as a Counsellor of the school.

“He inculcated in us qualities of integrity, hard work and excellence which have distinguished us in our public and private endeavours”, the citation stated.

Rev. Peter John Moss arrived in Ghana in 1969 at a young age of 28 with a strong passion to contribute to the development of education in Ghana.

He is remembered for his significant contribution to the development of affordable quality education which has benefitted thousands of poor students especially in the Kwahu area, who otherwise could not have had access to high school education because of the financial constraints of their parents.

The citation of the Old Students’ Association which was read by the General Secretary of the Association, Mrs Stella Agyenim Boateng stated that, “We dedicate our eventual success in many fields of expertise to the strong foundation in education and moral values which Rev. Peter John Moss instilled us.”

The Citation of the Old Students’ Association mentioned that, “We honour Rev. Peter John Moss as a legend and an icon whose selfless contribution to the development of affordable and quality education in Ghana is manifestly phenomenal.”

Rev. Peter John Moss paid tribute to the late Rev. Victor Buer Nartey-Tokoli , for creating an opportunity for them to work together to lay a foundation for Nkawkaw Secondary School which has produced many great citizens of Ghana.

He said that the school was modelled initially as a Day School to attract students from low income families who could not gain admission to established schools because of financial constraints. The school started with 6 teachers and 70 students in 1969 and they had to work hard to maintain high academic performance.

“When we realised that the performance of students was falling, I visited the students in their homes in the evenings with another teacher to have first-hand information on the conditions that existed in their homes for learning.”

Rev. Moss indicated that the visits to the homes of the students showed that most of them could not study in the evenings in their homes because their home environments were not good for learning mostly due to the absence of light.

“To solve this problem, the school administration convinced a parent to permit the students to use his defunct drinking spot in the city centre to be used as a place for study in the evenings and he agreed.

The students congregated in the old drinking spot in the evenings to study and we supervised the evening studies. This innovation improved the academic performance of the students.”

Dr Robert Forson , the current Headmaster of Nkawkaw Secondary School commended the late Rev. Victor Buer Nartey-Tokoli and Rev. Peter John Moss for their pioneering role in establishing the school which has contributed to the education of many people in the Kwahu area. He said that whilst going through the archives of the school, he chanced on information which indicated that Rev. Peter John Moss played many roles in the early stages of the school’s establishment as a teacher of English, French, English Literature, and Secretary to the School Council, Organist, Counsellor etc.

He also engaged the students in extracurricular activities such as the Debate Club. Dr Forson outlined the needs of the school and requested the Old Students’ Association of Nkawkaw Secondary School to support some of the development projects of the school.

The Old Students’ Association of Nkawkaw Secondary School provided gifts to Rev. Peter John Moss and his wife Mrs Comfort Moss. The couple expressed gratitude to the Old Students’ Association for the overwhelming reception and honour done to them.