The James Town Government Junior Boys’ School, on Wednesday launched its 125th anniversary with a vision to rekindle its past academic excellence.
The school presently called Accra Sempe Primary was the first Government primary school in the country established in 1886 to provide primary education for the children of Ga Mashie.
Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, Minister of Education launching the anniversary on the theme: “Quality Education: Cornerstone for National
Development” said it was relevant and appropriate for every parent to give his or her child quality education.
She noted that the introduction and increase in the Capitation Grant was an indirect call to all parents to send their wards to school since they had been relieved from paying levies.
“Education transcends every facet of development and a nation can only develop when its human resource is well developed qualitatively,” she added.
Mrs Mould-Iddrisu said the Ministry had committed itself to upgrading infrastructure, teaching and learning facilities, human resource capacity building, ICT oriented, intensive study of mathematics, science and technology and vocational skills.
She said in the past, the objective of education was just to pass on skills from one generation to another, but now it was focused on
producing high level thinkers, analysts, and inventors to turn the wheel of national development around for improved quality of life for mankind.
Mrs Mould-Iddrisu explained that education required a participatory approach and expected parents, teachers, NGOs, communities and religious bodies to support and translate government inputs and objectives into reality.
She called on teachers and pupils to strive for excellence in discipline in all spheres of life since discipline and high moral had become the hallmark for achieving excellence.
Reverend Nii John Garshong, President of old Pupil’s Associations of Accra Sempe Primary said education in Ga Mashie was faced with many
challenges ranging from infrastructural development, lack of competent and ambitious teachers, equipment and learning materials.
He noted that government could not bear the cost alone but needed other stakeholders, religious bodies and NGOs for assistance to
achieve the target of quality education.
“It is often said that education is the bedrock of development in any country and that a country that neglect this all important sectors
is doomed,” Rev Garshong stated.
He noted that everything that stood for James Town was falling from education to monuments like ports and special buildings therefore past pupils of the school would use the anniversary as a wake-up call to revise many issues in Ga Mashie.
Rev Garshong said activities lined up for the anniversary included, a medical outreach, clean-up exercise and campaign, durbar of old pupils, anniversary lectures, float with brass band music, speech and prize giving day, fun games, dinner dance and awards night
and other activities that would bring Ga Mashie and its leaders back together.
He added that after the anniversary there would be free adult education programme for the people in Ga Mashie.