St Louis Senior High School in Kumasi has launched its 70th-anniversary Speech and Prize-giving day in Kumasi with a call on the public to support girl-child education in the country.

The school’s past students association, the St Louis Senior High School Past Students Association (SLOPSA), spearheaded the launch on the theme: “ Maintaining our Heritage, Transforming our World”.

The launch

The launch ushered in the year-long celebration and would be climaxed with the inauguration of various projects for the school in November.

Also, the anniversary cloth and other paraphernalia for the anniversary were unveiled at the event which was also used to raise funds.

Other activities to mark the anniversary include inter house competitions, Founding Sisters’ Lectures in Accra, donations to orphanages, soccer match between staff of the school and Opoku Ware School, motivational talks with old girls and fund raising dinner in Accra.

Collaboration to raise future leaders

At the launch, speakers stressed the need for parents to collaborate with the school and complement efforts to raise the young people of today to be responsible adults and the future leaders who would protect the heritage of the nation.

The Member of Parliament for Asokwa, Ms Patricia Appiagyei, who was the guest of honour, said in the name of modernisation, many young people were losing their sense of identity and social responsibility that protected the fibre of society.

“The holistic training we received while we were in school were designed to place us in positions of academic excellence and provide us with valuable social skills and talents meant to prepare us to become excellent mothers, good guardians, skilled homemakers, and persons capable of imparting virtues to the younger generation.

“Heritage and tradition are what shapes us. As humans, we have always relied on the past to build the present and to plan for the future. Hence, it is important to protect our heritage because this adds character and distinctiveness to our lives and thus, provides us with a sense of identity.

“Admittedly, in today’s interconnected world, we cannot escape from the transformation of society by the power of digital space. However, as parents and as students, we have a duty to ensure that we do not neglect our heritage under the guise of modernisation,” Ms Appiagyei, an old student of St Louis stressed, as she called for discipline among students and support from parents.

The Board Chairman of the school, Nana Adu Mensah Asare, also called on parents to instill moral principles in their children at home to complement the work of teachers.

“Parents should help at home with proper training, impartation of values and social skills to complement the work of management and staff of the school”, he said.

Nana Asare, who is also the Chief of Amakom, said it was a shared responsibility for all stakeholders to play their roles in the fulfilment of the mission of the institution.

The Headmistress, Mrs Ama Kyerewaa Benefo, called for support to assist in the infrastructural development of the school, indicating that the current student population was overstretching the facilities of the school

“In 1952, Saint Louis Secondary was opened with an initial group of 12 girls, but today, the school has a student population of 3,175, made up of 1,665 SHS Two and 1,510 SHS Three.

“This has overstretched the limited facilities of the school and I will, therefore, appeal to all stakeholders to assist in infrastructural development,” Mrs Benefo said.

She used the occasion to commend the disciplinary committee of the school for their selfless work and sound decisions that had helped maintain the level of discipline in the school.

The Global President of St Louis Past Students Association (SLOPSA), Ms Juliana Bruce, called on the public to support girl-child education in the country.

She said looking at the quality of Ghanaian women in leadership positions locally and internationally, it was incumbent on all to ensure that more girls were empowered through education to help them realise their dreams and impact society.

Source: Graphic.com