The Yaa Asantewaa Senior High School at Tanoso, near Kumasi, is to set aside a day each year on its academic calendar to celebrate the legendary Asante Queen warrior, Yaa Asantewaa, who the school was named after.
The Ghana Education Service (GES), which has sanctioned the celebration, has mandated the Board of Governors to meet and come out with a detailed programme to mark the day.
Purpose of celebration
The Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Mr Kofi Sarfo Kantanka, who announced this at the inauguration of the school’s reconstituted Board of Governors at Tanoso, said the celebration was a form of recognition, respect for the queen and also to immortalize such a personality, a woman whose role and contribution to the protection of the Golden Stool, the symbol of unity of Asanteman from being captured by the white man, remained outstanding in the Ashanti history.
Mr Kantanka said the concept of Board of Governors was based on the policy of community participation in education which the Ministry of Education and the GES accepted as an indispensable part of the process of quality education delivery, adding that the activities of the school could, therefore, not be isolated from the community whose interest the school sought to serve.
Functions of Board
He said one of the board’s functions was to control the policy of the institutions subject to any directives from the Ministry of Education, ensure judicious use of funds, ensure discipline among staff, to assist the headmaster in the discharge of her duties but should never encroach upon her authority and responsibility as the administrative head.
He reminded the board of its power to co-opt non-voting members for their advice on matters when the need arose.
The outgoing Board Chairman, Dr Kofi Osei Akuoko, a lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and a former student of the Prempeh College, was grateful to his colleague board members, school management and the students for the support and hoped the new board would continue to work with them to achieve results.
Achievement
He said a lot had been achieved during their tenure, especially in the areas of high academic performance and discipline and, therefore, expected that the flame would continue to burn.
The new Board Chairman, Nana Fob Kropa, a former Director at the School of Communication Studies of the University of Ghana, Legon, and a student of the Prempeh College, said members would work hard to ensure discipline and improve upon the school’s enviable academic records.
He was happy that the GES had recognized the exemplary leadership role of the legendary Yaa Asantewaa who bravely fought to protect the Golden Stool and that the new board would collaborate with the management to make the celebration a success.
The new board members include representatives of the traditional councils, the Director-General of the GES, the Regional and Metro Directors of GES, Old Girls, the PTA, the headmistress, non-teaching and teaching staff.
