Alhaji Umar Babs Bodinga (2nd left), MCE for Abuakwa North, presents a citation to management of Bright SHS while leaders of the Municipal Assembly and GES look on.
Bright Senior High School, a private school at Akyem Kukurantumi in the Abuakwa North Municipality, Eastern Region, has been adjudged the Best Private School in Ghana, 2021 for its outstanding performance in the West African Senior Schools Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The award was given by West Africa International Press Limited at its Heroes of Distinction Conference and Awards held in Accra.
The school was also adjudged the best performing school in the Abuakwa North Municipality after 77 per cent of its students, presented for the 2022 WASSCE, scored between Aggregate 6As and 8As.
The school also topped the Ghana Education Service (GES) ranking of best-performing schools in the Abuakwa North Municipality.
Award
At a special durbar organized to celebrate the achievement of the school, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Abuakwa North, Alhaji Umar Babs Bodinga, expressed happiness about the achievement of the school.
“The academic performance of students who graduate from Bright Senior High School has never been in doubt. The school has consistently churned out scholars who excel in the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE),” he said.
The Municipal Directorate of GES also presented a citation of honour to the school to celebrate its achievement.
“The records are indeed very beautiful in terms of results and overall academic performance. Discipline too is a hallmark of this great school and every student who has passed through the four corners of the school can testify. It is therefore not surprising that Bright Senior High School was awarded by the West Africa International Press as the best Private Senior High School in 2021.
“The Abuakwa North Municipal Assembly is very proud of you. Ghana Education Service is proud of you. Ghana is very proud of you for all the successes and honour you have chalked. You have made Ghana, Eastern Region, and Abuakwa North Municipality very proud,” portions of the citation, presented by the Municipal Director of Education, Abena Gyamera, read.
The Municipal Assembly also honoured Bright SHS as the best school in the municipality.
The MCE explained that the award to the school came after the Municipal Education Oversight Committee (MEOC) thoroughly assessed the performance of second-cycle institutions in the municipality and unanimously agreed on Bright SHS.
He stated that the school has established consistency in its outstanding performance in WASSCE in the past three years, hence the award.
Commendation
The Eastern Regional Director of Education, Margret Nsiah Asiamah, in a speech, read on her behalf, commended management of the school for advancing quality education in the region.
She stated that liberalization of the education sector in allowing private participation has enabled private schools to immensely contribute to quality education in the country over the years, “a feat that cannot be told without mentioning the contribution of Bright Senior High School.”
“The emergence of Bright Senior High School as the Best Private Senior High School in Ghana for the 2021/2022 academic year is an indication of its outstanding performance demonstrated over the years,” she said.
Vice-President of the School, Dominic Acquah, expressed appreciation to the MCE and GES for acknowledging the hard work and accomplishments of the school.
He stated that in spite of challenges in running private education in Ghana, Bright SHS continues to excel due to investments in infrastructure and quality teaching and learning.
Achievement
Mr Acquah explained that in 2017, the school presented 887 candidates to write the WASSCE of which 12 obtained 8As, 435 had 7As, and the rest obtained 6As to 4As.
In 2018, he noted that 15 candidates out of 1,365 presented for the WASSCE obtained 8As while 681 had 7As with the rest securing between 6As and 3As
He said the school in 2020 presented 1,158 candidates which they passed with A1 to C6
“In 2021 when a few candidates of the school had a standoff with WAEC invigilators over intimidation, leading to sudden relocation of the examination center from the school to OPASS, out of the 837 candidates who wrote the WASSCE, 10 had 8As, 216 got 7As and the rest got 6As to 8As.
“Then finally, in 2022 WASCE results released recently, 77% of 853 candidates who wrote the WASSCE exams had 6As to 8As,” he enumerated.
Mr Acquah reiterated a call on government to include outstanding private SHSs in the Free Senior High School policy to ensure equity and fairness while ensuring that education thrives in the country.
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