Mary Adu-Gyamfi - She saved O’Reilly SHS from closure

The birth of every new born baby brings joy to the family. Events are organised to outdoor the baby but for young Mary, this joy was short-lived since 10 days after her delivery, she lost her father who was the pillar of the family.

Her mother, a poor farmer, had to cater for 10 children single-handedly and that became too much for her to bear.  Indeed, had it not been the benevolence of relatives, Young Mary would have missed out on education. 

Mary counted herself very lucky because she was the only one among her siblings who continued her education to the secondary level. She, therefore, rose above all the setbacks in her life and struggled through her education to be among the best always. Today, that little girl has made her family very proud.  Mrs Mary Adu-Gyamfi is now the headmistress of the O’Reilly Senior High School at Okpoi Gonno,Teshie in Accra. 

The struggles she went through growing up has made her passionate about children’s education so much that she will do anything to ensure that children’s right to education is upheld and that they study in an environment that will bring out the best in them.

Little wonder that she played a key role in ensuring that the O’Reilly SHS was relocated to a more conducive site which provided a better environment for studying.

Had it not been for her unrelenting effort to make sure the students of O’Reilly SHS continued with their education, the school would have been closed down because she said the school was directed to transfer from its rented premises without a definite future plan.

Mrs Adu-Gyamfi, who recounted her childhood experiences in an interview with the Junior Graphic, said in her early years her grandparents took care of her when she started school at the Asuotiano Presbyterian Primary School because her mother alone could not take care of 10 children after the death of her father. 

Her grandfather had to pay her school fees and provide for other personal needs with so much difficulty because he had his own children to care for as well.

Financial difficulties

Young Mary wrote the Common Entrance Examination in Form Three at the L.A Middle School at Asuotiano in the Brong Ahafo Region after which she proceeded to the Dormaa Secondary School for her GCE Ordinary Level education. According to her, she would not have attended secondary school but for the intervention of God. 

“This is because money was difficult to come by. My uncle who was a teacher saw that I was performing well at school and started supporting me with my fees”.

In spite of the support from her uncle, life was still difficult for her because he could not provide all her needs.  “I lacked so many things a secondary school student needed. I did not have provisions for school, my trunk was in a bad state and things were generally tough,” she recalled.

Indeed, young Mary said she nearly dropped out of school at a point when her uncle’s meagre teacher’s salary could no longer support his family and her. “But my uncle did not give up on me, he began taking loans to be able to provide for all of us,” she said.

Scholarship

Later, Mary was awarded the Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) scholarship and that enabled her to complete her secondary school education. 

After missing out on admission to the Winneba Specialist Training College when she completed secondary school, she proceeded to teach for one year while she waited for the following year’s admissions.

This time, one of her sisters supported her when she gained admission to the Wesley College in Kumasi to be trained as a teacher. After training college, she taught at the Kotababi ‘1’ Middle School and from there to the Accra Newtown Middle School and later moved to the McCarthy Hill Junior Secondary School, all in Accra.

Life at O’Reilly

Before her assumption of office at the O’Reilly SHS, Mrs Adu-Gyamfi was able to complete her Post Graduate Diploma in Education as well as a Master’s degree programme.  

The foundation of the success story of O’Reilly SHS, she said, was her extension of the school’s worship service “to pray for the needs of the school”.

She said there were times when the staff and students prayed fervently not for themselves but for O’Reilly and its relocation.

Movement to Teshie

She recounted how together with some school officials they went to Afienya, Prampram, Nsakena and Obom, all in the Greater Accra Region in search of a piece of land for the school without success.

“I said the school was not going to exist if we did not look for our own land. So I personally started looking around for one,” she said, although that was not her job but that of the Ghana Education Service.

She said she felt very lonely in her fight to save the school from closure since there was no vibrant old students association at the time except the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) and the board but she did not give up.

Finally, her efforts became successful when a contract was awarded for the construction of the school at Teshie. 

Mrs Adu-Gyamfi is a mother four girls and has two grandchildren.