ZAIN'S GESTURE COMMENDABLE (AUGUST 14, 2009)

LAST Wednesday, the smile that eluded the people of Odumase Krobo in the Lower Manya Krobo District for nearly two decades returned after the only Junior High School (JHS) in the community, which became a death trap, was officially inaugurated.
Zain Ghana, a leading telecommunication company, reconstructed the six-unit classroom block for the Presbyterian Junior High School.
The new school building now has additional facilities to aid teaching and learning such as a computer laboratory stocked with 30 computers connected to the Internet, a well-stocked library, a staff common room, a headmaster’s office, washrooms, a rain harvesting facility and a pumping machine.
This gesture, rare as it is, ought to be commended.
Zain Ghana has shown its compassion to the plight of the people of Odumase-Krobo and its environs after media reports that the 121-year-old school, arguably the oldest school in the Krobo community, was crumbling, thereby making teaching and learning impossible whenever it threatened to rain.
It is gratifying to note that the morale of both the teachers and pupils, which had been dampened as a result of several years of neglect of the school, has been boosted.
Though the school has been rebuilt, sadly, it was after the death of one of the pupils of the school when part of the school building collapsed, resulting also in injury to others.
The tragic death of Bernard Nartey has not been in vain as it touched the hearts of Zain to rise up to its social responsibility as a good corporate citizen.
The structure, as it stands, must help to stimulate qualitative teaching and learning in the school. The facilities can serve their intended purposes if the authorities take good care of the school and ensure that it does not deteriorate as a result of lack of maintenance.
The school authorities must also not take this assistance from Zain Ghana for granted, and it behoves them to make the best use of the facilities to achieve a high academic standard and discipline associated with the Presbyterian Church.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is also of the view that the Lower Manya Krobo District Education Directorate should provide the necessary support for the school.
It is our hope that the district assembly will also heed the advice of the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, to fence the school to ward off criminals and encroachers.
The gesture of Zain gives endless opportunities to the schoolchildren, teachers and the community to reposition Manya Krobo as a centre of learning in the Eastern Region.
The rejuvenation of the school provides access to modern ways of study through the provision of computers and Internet facilities, job satisfaction for the teachers and employment opportunities for the community.
The pupils of the school excelled in the trying circumstances in the past and it is hoped that given the new environment, they will strive hard to be leaders in future.
The DAILY GRAPHIC hopes this centre of excellence in education at Odumase Krobo will motivate the teachers to teach the children to step up their performances in national examinations.
We urge the teachers and pupils to use the new environment to search for new opportunities in teaching and learning.
The DAILY GRAPHIC salutes Zain Ghana for helping to create the congenial atmosphere necessary for the children to advance in their academic pursuits.