Mawuli School to get new boys’ dormitory in honour of 75th anniversary - Education Minister says

The government has pledged to ease congestion challenges in Mawuli Senior High School in Ho in the Volta Region.

Consequently, the construction of a boys’ dormitory will commence later this year in the school as part of its 75th anniversary celebration, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, announced at the 75th anniversary fundraising dinner held at the Holiday Inn in Accra.

Assuring the old students, the minister affirmed the government’s commitment to expand the school’s accommodation to ease accommodation burden and enhance security.

It is also to honour the school’s excellent contribution to quality education and raising great men of integrity who have served and are still serving the nation in several capacities over the years.

Mr Iddrisu said the construction of the dormitory would be led by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) as part of government’s policy to expand infrastructure in second cycle institutions across the country.

“The GETFund will cut the sod this year for the construction of a boys’ dormitory in honour of the 75th anniversary of Mawuli School.

“Myself or the Volta Regional Minister supported by the GETFund Administrator will cut the sod and commence work on the boys’ dormitory project this year.

“President John Mahama desires to expand access to education. His return means a lot for the 75th anniversary celebration of Mawuli School,” he said. 

Congestion situation

The Headmaster of Mawuli School, Benjamin Dei, in an interview, told the Daily Graphic that the population had made it difficult to contain all boarding students in the available 10 resident houses (five each for male and female) and their annexes in the school.

That, he said, had made it a conventional practice of seeing some students sleeping on the corridors of their designated houses and other places which were inconvenient for their well-being and safety.

He indicated that the school’s capacity of about 2,500 students had doubled as its population presently stood at 4,961 students including 2,745 boys and 2,216 girls; out of which about 500 were day students. 
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Mr Dei lamented the huge burden of responsibility the congestion had placed on the school’s management, saying it had made supervision very challenging and also put a lot of pressure on facilities, including the classrooms. 

Commendation, appeal

For his part, the President of OMSU, Richard Nyarko, lauded the government’s swift action and commitment as communicated by the Minister of Education to construct a new boys’ dormitory for the school to alleviate the congestion menace.

He appealed to the government to also consider the completion of a girl’s dormitory that was started under the previous administration or construct a new one to evenly address the housing challenges.

Mr Nyarko appealed to old students and corporate organisations to support and partner with OMSU to construct four units two-bedroom teachers’ bungalow as its 75th anniversary legacy project in addition to the renovation of some classroom blocks and other facilities.
 
The writer is a member of OMSU 2015