Ofori Panin Senior High School (Opass) has celebrated its 55th anniversary with a call on the students to justify the investments being made in them to help shape the country’s development.
Mr Otutu Adu-Larbi, an old student of the school and Board Chairman of the Beige Capital, who was the guest speaker, said the students had to build on the integrity and good name of the school to become assets to the nation.
He reminded them that success is not achieved in a day but it is the end results of hard work, investments and commitment adding; “success is like a cocoa farmer who tills and nurture his farm and patiently waits until it fruits”.
Mr Adu-Larbi, speaking on the theme: “OPASS at 55 – The Role of Stakeholders,” said the stakeholders include the state, teachers, parents, old and current students and that they had to work hard to ensure that the objective for their education was achieved.
He thanked the successive head teachers of the school for their commitment and good administrative decisions that had brought the school that far and maintained its academic credentials among the best schools in the country.
He commended the school for its vibrant choir which provided songs at the ceremony and donated an amount of Gh¢10, 000.00 on behalf of Beige Capital to the choir to purchase an organ and other musical equipment.
Ofori-Panin, situated between Kukurantumi and Tafo in the Eastern Region, was established as a Ghana Education Trust School in September 1961 and was then called Tafo-Kukurantumi Secondary School to address the educational needs of the indigenes of the two towns.
In May 1962 the name was changed to Ofori Panin in honour of the then Okyenhene, Nana Sir Ofori-Atta of Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area.
The Headmaster of the school, Dr Edmund Fianu, said the school continued to make strides in the academic front by recording a 100 per cent pass at the just ended West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination in which 736 students were presented.
He said out of the 736, seven failed in core mathematics, one failure each in core English and Integrated Science and nine failures in Social Studies while all the other subjects saw a 100 per cent pass.
Dr Fianu said in spite of such academic achievements the school was faced with challenges and mentioned the lack of boarding facilities, especially dormitories, and that over the years teachers bungalows had been converted into dormitories to accommodate the over 95 per cent of the students who came from Accra and other regions.
He said the structures put up in the 1960s to house the students had not been expanded except for one additional block constructed for the boys in 2010 and appealed to all stakeholders, especially the old students, to assist.
Mr Prince Kofi Amoabeng, the school’s Board Chairman, called on the old students to form a vibrant association to support the school and donated Gh¢10,000.00 to support a fundraising for a school project.
GNA
