Veep Opens New 600 bedrooms girls dormitory
….As TAMASCO Launches 70th Anniversary Event
Story: Mohammed Abu,ADM,Accra
The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana,His Excellency,Alhaj Dr.Mahmudu Bawumia,on Saturday opened a 600 bedroom girls dormitory at the campus of Tamale Senior High School(TAMASCO),in the Northern region, funded by MTN,Ghana.
The opening of the new girls dormitory in addition to being honoured by the School’s Board of Governors with a new house in the school named after him, formed the major highlights of the official launch of Tamasco’s 70th Anniversary celebrations slated for September this year.
The prelude to the event was a colourful guard of honour mounted in his honour as the Special Guest for the occasion by the Tamasco Cadet Corps.
The Chairman for the occasion,Col (rtd) Mahmud Tahiru,also the Zung Lana(Chief of Zung,Northern region ) and the Northern Regional Representative of the Council of State,in his opening remarks,entreated students to uphold discipline and hard work in school..”The Vice President is what he is today, because during his school days, he was married to his books” he intimated.
He also noted that the school isn’t just the premier senior High School of the North founded with 25 pioneer students in 1951,but also, the school since its birth have turned out numerous high profile personalities who had played diverse roles in the country’s development.
In the field of defense and security of the country,he recounted that the school had produced two former chiefs of Defense staff and,an Inspector General of Police(IGP).Then as it relates to the judicature of the country, two former Supreme Court Justices.
On the democratic governance landscape,the school, he further noted, produced the current Veep and the current Speaker of Parliament .”The current number two and three gentleman positions of the land is therefore occupied by TAMASCANS”,he underscored.
In his welcome address,Rev. Azeka,Headmaster of the school,reported a recent marginal increase in the school’s performance and ,hinted that the school had set a target annual 10 percent performance increase rate and measures have been put in place to achieve the set target.
He also took note of the starling performance of TAMASCO in the National Science and Mathematics Quiz Competition.’We are the only school in the north to be consistently present and this gives a good account of ourselves” he noted with satisfaction adding, that the school is also on record to have rivaled leading southern sector schools such as the likes of Achimota School and others.
He also acknowledged the unflinching and invaluable support of the 1986 and other Year Groups of the school towards the quiz competition.
An on-going 12 unit classroom block project being funded by the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development,he also disclosed, was due completion soon while an old student, Alhaj Ibrahim Mahama, had also committed to building a school block for 1000 students.
The major handicap of the school he also hinted, had to do with transportation adding that, a number of the school vehicles were broken down. A school with a student population of 3,600 he further disclosed, have had to manage with a one 23 sitter bus.
The school he further disclosed, lacks pick-up vehicles for rounds relating to administrative duties while some houses and the old kitchen also needs rehabilitation.He therefore made an appeal for support in order to ameliorate the situation.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN,Ghana,Selorm Adadevoh,which funded the GHC2.8 million girls dormitory project on his part, said corporate social investment in the area of education occupies a lofty place in its Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR).He disclosed that within the past 25 years,MTN had funded 187 education projects countrywide.
Touching on the 600 completed girls dormitory project,he noted,“Young girls deserve wholesome and decent environment to study”.
MTN had also offered 100’s of Scholarships to needy but brilliant students,funded IT and digital library centers.The new age technology paradigm he said was taken seriously by MTN and as such,robotic libraries and centers were also targeted areas for investment.
Mr.Adadevoh, said it was his hope that the staff would work with students to ensure a good maintenance culture.
The Vice President,the Special Guest Speaker for the occasion, recounting the history of the school noted that the school was the first ever Senior High school to be established in the the history of the entire North.
Twenty-five 25 pioneer students that included the late Alhaj Gbdamoshie and others he recounted, were used to establish the school in 1951,and out ot the number only one of them, a prominent Lawyer is still alive.
Dr.Bawumia took cognizance of the fact that as of TAMASCO’s birth date, the colonial southern sector was already ahead of the north in terms of secondary education by 75 years.
Despite the wide difference between when secondary education was established in the north as against the south,the north Dr.Bawumia noted, nonetheless,has done a lot up till today.
Endorsing “The Northern light” accolade, for TAMASCO, he said the school had indeed done so much as to deserve it.To buttress his point, he cited the magnanimous contribution of its numerous high profile personalities who were also old students towards the economic development of the nation.”Not withstanding the achievements however,he noted there was still more room for improvement’.
He assured that government was there to support and reposition the entire educational system of the country so as to prepare citizens towards the fourth industrial revolution.
He expressed great appreciation to the MTN Foundation for the good job done while also recounting his proposal to the MTN a couple of years back and its ready willingness to fund such a project in the north.He also acknowledged the Kuwaiti Fund for its support.
Dr.Bawumia thanking the TAMASCO Board of Governors for their decision to honour him with an additional new house,Bawumia House ,said, he had least expected it since he was simply doing his bit as an old student of the school.
He said he was humbled and had accepted the award not just for him as a person but on behalf of all Old TAMASCANS whose collective contributions in diverse ways had led to the development of the school.
Dr.Bawumia disclosed that the Managing Director of Geodrill Ghana Ltd,Mr.David Harper had donated an amount of one hundred and fifty thousand Ghana Cedis( GHC150,000.00) as part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) towards the development of education and particularly,on the occasion of Tamale Senior High School(TAMASCO’s) 70th anniversary celebrations.
In response to the Headmaster’s earlier appeal for more support he pledged to rehabilitate two school houses and the old school kitchen.
Asphalting of all of TAMASCO’s internal roads has been completed as an important component of the face lift being given the school and initiated by the Veep.
In his address, he indicated that, he had also directed that the initiative be extended to TAMASCO’s other four next door neigbouring schools, of Tamale Technical University College and others in the Education Ridge enclave of Tamale.
