Society must help address falling educational standards

School authorities must court old student associations and find strategic ways of enticing them to support their former schools to help reverse the falling standards of education.

Mr Rockson Dogbegah, Chairman of Berock Ventures Limited, who made the call, said prominent business people and politicians could also be encouraged to adopt schools while individuals were inspired to invest in reading books.

“Society must play a part in reversing the falling performance of education,” Mr Dogbegah said in a speech, when he chaired the 75th Anniversary Celebration of Keta Business School.

The School, with a student population of more than 1,000, is faced with many challenges including having no fence walls, inadequate classroom facilities, no library, lack of information communication technology facilities and laboratories.

More than 95 per cent of the development projects in the school had been done by old students.

Mr Dogbegah, who is also the Vice President of Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Africa, and Chair of CIOB for Ghana, said assistance was needed to convert the structure into a befitting classroom, with all other infrastructure improved.

He, therefore, called on the management of GETfund to support the school.

“I guess we need to get together to champion development projects and use the strength and power we have as king makers to fight for our fair share of development projects,” he said.

Mr Dogbegah commended the Rotary Club of Ho’s project to Light Up Education in the Volta Region through award schemes for teachers, students and community, the deployment of volunteer teachers and the establishment of reading clinics to ensure that every child in the Region had at least one reading book.

So far, he said, the project had been able to mobilize over 10,000 books.

He said while in the past the Volta Region could boast of many intellectuals, the trend seemed to be on the decline now and called for collective efforts to address the situation.

Mr Dogbegah commended the contribution of the old students and the Parent- Teacher Association to the growth and development of the school, and the Member of Parliament for Keta Constituency, Mr Richard Quashigah, for his pledge to support the school.

About GH¢ 91,000 was realized in pledges for development of the school.

Guests at the celebration included Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Aku Ativor, the Deputy Volta Regional Director for Education, Dickson Ogordor, and the Keta Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Sylvester Tonyeave.