Students of Apam Senior High School in the Central Region have made a passionate appeal to the government, and old students association to support the school with a bus to effectively participate in academics and extra curricula activities outside the school.
"A major challenge facing this noble institution with all the successes chalked and which is quiet disheartening is the lack of a school bus, this has made transportation of students to academics and extra curricula activities very strenuous," the Girls Head Prefect, Isabella Ntsiful said.
She made the appeal at the 71st speech and prize giving day sponsored by the 1974, 1984, 1994 and 2004 year groups at the weekend on the theme, 'Great APASS at 71: Celebrating our heroes and heroines and preparing the current generation for national development.'
According to her, the absence of a bus was affecting academic work, especially in cases where students were required to go on field trips to equip themselves with first-hand information about their courses, participate in sporting events and other educative competitions the school is involved in, like the National Science & Maths Quiz (NSMQ) among others.
"The only vehicle the school has can only contain 20 students which is woefully inadequate and an eyesore for a student population of over 4,000," she added.
Ms Ntsiful, however, revealed that in the face of such a major challenge, the school had "weathered the storm" and chalked a lot of success in academic and extra curriculum activities.
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"The robotics team, advanced to the finals of the National Robotics Competition, which earned them the chance to represent Ghana at the Robofest World Championship in Michigan, USA," she said.
Also, the school's Police Cadet Corps placed third at the 8th Central Regional Cadet Corps Drill Competition, earning a spot in the national competition held in Tamale, where they finished fourth.
"The NSMQ team reached the finals of the regional champions, defeating Mfantsipim Boys Senior High School to qualify for the national competition, the debate team excelled in the regional debate competition, finishing first while the history club won both the zonal and district competitions, with the entrepreneurship club placing third at the 15th Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) National High School Entrepreneurship Competition," she added.
In her speech, the headmistress of the school, Mrs Comfort Essah-Amoaful, enumerated further challenges facing the school including an uncompleted classroom block, congested boys dormitory, inadequate bunk beds among others and pleaded with the Regional Minister, Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, to use her good offices to fast-track the process for the timely completion of the classroom project as well as the other facilities.
Prizes were given to deserving current students for exceling in the various subjects, while the 2023 WASSCE best student went to Hawawu Kiejembu Abdulai who bagged 7 A's and a B.
She is currently a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) student at the University of Cape Coast.
