GHANA NATIONAL COLLEGE MARKS 60TH ANNIVERSARY (PAGE 49)

A two-storey library complex for the Ghana National College, valued at GH¢290,000, has been inaugurated by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Ernest Debrah.
The minister, also on behalf of the GETFund and in fulfilment of the President's promise, presented a 55-seater bus to the school to ease its transportation problems.
Speaking at the 60th anniversary celebration of the school, Mr Debrah, a former student of the school, commended the founder, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and the pioneering staff for their vision and foresight which had produced many products who occupied key positions in various sectors of the economy and at the international level.
The college was established in 1948 for students who participated in the demonstration against the British colonial government and who were dismissed from their schools.
Mr Debrah said the establishment of the school was linked with the history of the country and that as the school of destiny, it had become the prototype of the co-educational Ghana Education Trust schools which were established throughout the country after independence to admit students, irrespective of their religion and tribe.
He said the government would provide extra classrooms in all second-cycle schools throughout the country to address the problem that would come with the extension of the duration of the senior high school from three to four years.
The Chief Executive Officer of Taylor and Taylor Company Limited in Accra, Dr David K. A. Taylor, another old student, donated GH¢10,000 towards the rehabilitation of the school’s senior science block in honour of Professor Francis Allotey, also an old student and acclaimed international mathematician and scientist.
He suggested that the science block be named after Prof. Allotey for his international feat in science and mathematics.
Dr Taylor also promised to sponsor for 10 years two pupils from the St Peter’s Primary School at Saltpond where Prof. Allotey started his basic education.
The Headmaster of the Ghana National College, Mr Robert Koomson-Barnes, commended the government for improving the water supply system in the school and providing it with a modern library and a bus.
He, however, called on it to provide more accommodation for staff to ensure their retention for effective academic work.
Prof. Allotey, who chaired the function, called for a new educational system which would put emphasis on creativity, science, and information and communication technology.
The Archbishop of the Cape Coast Archdiocese of the Catholic Church, his Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah-Turkson, advised the students to submit themselves to be nurtured, polished and refined into youthful gems worthy of example to their peers.
The Central Regional Minister, Nana Ato Arthur, urged students to be disciplined and study hard to enhance their future.