Collaborate to maintain Catholic girls’ education excellence - Abena Amoah urges at St Rose’s SHS 60th anniversary

The Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), Abena Amoah, has called for stronger collaboration between alumni associations, mission bodies and government to ensure the continued excellence of Catholic girls’ education in Ghana.

She explained that mission schools in the country were navigating a new world of funding limitations, technological and infrastructure gaps, identity crises and cultural erosion.

Therefore, Ms Amoah cautioned against allowing the legacy of Catholic girls’ education to be diluted by complacency or constrained by resource starvation.

“We must evolve with the times, without compromising the principles that have brought us this far. It is true that there are more distractions today.

More temptations. More noise.

But there is also more opportunity. More knowledge. More tools,” she said in a keynote address at a ceremony to climax St. Rose’s Senior High School’s 60th anniversary celebration in Akwatia in the Eastern Region last Saturday.

“And that is why I call on a new approach to managing our schools – one of stronger and fairer partnership between alumnae, the missions and government,” Ms Amoah, an alumnus of the school, stated.
 

Rose’s at 60

The event was on the theme: "Celebrating Sixty Years of Holistic Catholic Girls Education: Upholding the Legacy of Integrity, Discipline and Achievements”.

It brought together policymakers, traditional leaders, alumni, parents, teachers, management, board members, students and other stakeholders to celebrate the milestone of the school and discuss solutions to address challenges faced by the school.

Ms Amoah stressed that the Rose’s Old Students Association (ROSA) had consistently supported the school through various interventions, including infrastructure projects and mentorship programmes.

However, she described the current Ghana Education Service (GES) allocation of only two admission slots to ROSA as “woefully inadequate” and called for a review.

“With all of ROSA’s investments in the school over the years, our current allocation of two admission slots is woefully inadequate, and we respectfully ask GES that this number be multiplied by 10, at least,” Ms Amoah, a member of ROSA 1989 year group, said.
Achievements

The Headmistress of the school, Marian Esi Jackson, highlighted the achievements of students, past and present, and acknowledged the efforts of teachers in nurturing talents and promoting a culture of academic rigour.

She said the school had been the Eastern Regional Best Performing Senior High School in the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) for the past five years, and had always been among the top 10 in the country.

In addition, Ms Jackson said the school won the National Cyber Security Challenge organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at the regional level and placed second at the Southern Zonal level. 
 

Challenges 

However, the Headmistress said that in spite of the great achievements, the school still faced some challenges.

They included understaffing, especially in the science department, occasioned by teacher attrition and an interim measure.

Ms Jackson appealed to the GES to recruit the science teachers into the mainstream and also beef up the teaching and non-teaching staff for the smooth running of the school.

The school’s physical structures were also inadequate, causing crowding in the classrooms, dormitories and dining halls.

Also, the student population is underserved by the current washroom facilities, while GETFund-sponsored 12-unit classroom block, three-storey dormitory block and washroom facilities have been left uncompleted since 2019.

Ms Jackson said the early completion of those projects would decongest the crowded classrooms, dormitories and washrooms.

For his part, the Bishop of Koforidua Diocese, Most Rev. Joseph Afrifa-Agyekum, who chaired the celebration, emphasised the need for parents to endeavour to visit the school to acquaint themselves with its culture, values and ethics before enrolling their wards in the school.

The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II, the guest of honour, donated GH¢200,000 towards improving Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in the school.
 

Project inauguration

As part of the diamond jubilee celebration, a GH¢3 million solar panel project was inaugurated for the school.

The project was funded by ROSA to provide sustainable energy for St Roses, creating a greener future for generations to come.

Highlighting the significance of the solar project, the outgoing ROSA Global President, Nana Akosua Asantewaa Owusu, said the funds raised by ROSA had enabled the installation of solar panels across our campus, to ensure that the school not only lead in academic and spiritual formation but also stands at the forefront of sustainability, energy and innovation.

“This is more than an infrastructure project. It is a bold statement of vision, responsibility, and hope.

And yet, the true test of our success lies not only in raising funds, but in what we do next,” Ms Asantewaa Owusu stated.