Odorgonno Senior High PTA inaugurates two projects

The Odorgonno Senior High School in Accra has inaugurated a semi-detached staff bungalow and a durbar ground constructed by the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) at a cost of GH¢320,000. 

The staff bungalow and the durbar ground were constructed at a cost of GH¢240,000 and GH¢80,000 respectively.

Inaugurating the projects, which coincided with the sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of a one-storey library project for the school, the Deputy Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mrs Elizabeth  A. De-Souza, commended the PTA of the school for its efforts in developing the school.

PTA levies

She said the GES had directed all schools to forward levies on projects to the service for the sake of accountability.

Mrs De-Souza explained that some parents who did not attend PTA meetings did not understand what such levies were meant for and, therefore, rushed to the press to accuse school authorities of demanding illegal sums from them.

She also appealed to parents of the school to regularly pay the PTA levies of their children to offset the debts incurred by the school in pursuing certain development  projects.

The Headmistress of the school, Dr (Mrs) Shine Ofori, said parents of the school contributed a special levy towards the school's development fund for the construction of the bungalow to house teachers on the school campus.

Projects

She said the durbar ground was also constructed with a levy of GH¢10 on each student and with support from the Victory Bible Church which worships on the school’s premises.

Dr Ofori said the school had been able to raise GH¢94,000 for work to commence on the one-storey library project, adding that work on the construction of the school's administration block which began in 1999 came to a halt in 2004 as a result of financial constraints.

The headmistress said the school needed a new science laboratory because the original building had collapsed, and as a result, the laboratory had, been temporarily moved to the classrooms.

School fees

She said some students were still owning school fees amounting to GH¢65,000 since December 2015, and “all efforts to retrieve these monies have proved futile," adding that the school was not interested in sending students home for fees.

Handing over the keys to the two projects, the Chairman of the PTA, Mr Sylvanus Martey, said the PTA would fully support the construction of the school library in line with the theme for the school's jubilee celebration, ‘Reading and Research.’ 

The Ga Central Municipal  Director of Education, Ms Diana Welbeck, asked the school to take good care of  the bungalow and the durbar ground.