Marvellous Marvin’s story

On Saturday, I was privileged to be one of two Masters of Ceremony at the 68th anniversary speech and prize-giving day at my alma mater, Opoku Ware School. Particularly exciting was the fact that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was in attendance as the Special Guest of Honour.

A few butterflies danced furtively in my stomach.  After all, one does not often get the chance to hone one’s MCing skills in front of the President.

Marvin’s story

The day before the event, I was briefed by one of the tutors on the story of a young boy in the school who was billed to receive a special award. His name is Marvin Okyere Jnr and his school number, in line with OWASS’ numbering system, is BY892.

He is a Form One student and uses a rather rickety wheelchair to get around because of his limited physical mobility.

Marvin and his mother and siblings live at Aburaso in the Atwima Kwanwoma District in the Ashanti Region. He was born with his physical disability and after his mother had a second child with the same condition, their father vanished like a wisp of smoke, perhaps convinced that there was a spiritual angle to this and that there was nothing like that in his extended family.

His mother, Rebecca Okyere, a petty trader in tomatoes, was left with the burden of taking care of her young children in very trying circumstances as a single parent.

In spite of all the odds, Marvin shone in school, gained an impressive aggregate eight at last year’s BECE and was automatically placed in his school of first choice, Opoku Ware School. His bosom friend, Prince Nsafoah Yeboah (BY979), who has been wheeling him around for some years, also selected OWASS, but was not placed there initially because his score was slightly weaker.

However, due to their peculiar circumstances Prince was eventually placed there alongside Martin and in the same house.

A former student of the school who lives in the USA heard of Marvin’s story and decided to step in with a new wheelchair and an amount of GH¢1000, and on Saturday, I had the honour of inviting the President to present the young boy with these.

As Prince wheeled his friend down the red carpet to meet the President, with his mother behind them unable to control her tears, and his school mates rose in respect, the crowd fell silent as I narrated his story.

Prince touched many hearts with his unalloyed loyalty to his friend. It was an emotional moment for everyone present.

Marvin Okyere Jnr. before the President to collect his award of a new wheel chair and GH¢1000

Free SHS: Facts and data

I believe the real story was not just that of a young disadvantaged boy receiving help.

It was the fact that up to the 2016/17 academic year, Marvin, and many others like him, would have most probably struggled to take up his place in OWASS for one simple reason, which is that his mother would have struggled to raise the admission fee to secure his place in the school.

The odds stood against him if one examines the statistics. Between 2013 and 2016, an average of 100,000 BECE graduates each year who qualified and were placed in senior high schools of their choice failed to take up their place, mainly for financial reasons.

That represented 30-32 per cent of all BECE graduates. Marvin could easily have fallen into that cesspool, and the nation would have been poorer for it. In the 2017/18 academic year, dropout rate came down to 17 per cent, following the introduction of the Free SHS policy which removed financial barriers to senior high school education.

Indeed, the numbers are exciting. In the three academic years between 2014/15 and 2016/17, a total of 886,600 students were enrolled in our public senior high schools. Between the 2017/18 and 2019/20 academic years, a total of 1,264,041 students are expected to have enrolled. This means that since taking office, this government has put almost 400,000 more children in senior high school, a jump of 43 per cent when comparing the three years of enrolment since September 2017 to the three years of enrolment before then.

Behind headlines, arguments

Of course, the Free SHS is not issue free. Mere access is not enough without ensuring quality. These are being tackled through several measures such as curriculum reform, improved teacher quality and several other interventions.

But beyond the political ping pong over Free SHS, the arguments and skullduggery over this or that aspect of the programme, among others, many young lives are being pragmatically touched by it, bringing hope and opportunity where darkness and despair have prevailed.

I believe that in years to come, many Marvins will write the President’s name in pure gold in their hearts, and for good reason.

E-mail: rodboat@yahoo.com