The Dr W.G.T Annan Educational Trust Fund has extended its kindest courtesy to the S.S Peter and Paul Anglican Junior High School at Saltpond, in the Mfantseman Municipality in the Central Region.
The Dr G.W.T Annan Educational Trust Fund had renovated a dilapidated library of the school and furnished it with two projectors, a television set, ceiling fans and refrigerator, as well as furniture, among others.
Additionally, the Trust Fund had reconstructed a ramshackle six unit classroom block, which had not received any facelift since it was originally built several decades ago, as one of the early schools in Saltpond.
Other initiatives undertaken by the Trust Fund include the construction of a modern day urinal at the school, while it had also fully sponsored the connection of pipeline to the school.
The aforementioned initiatives, which cost the Trust Fund several thousands of cedis, were meant to sustain the legacy of the late Dr G.W.T Annan, a former pupil of the school and a proud native of the town.
According to the managers of the Fund, the late Dr Annan stated in his will that all his properties must be rented out, with further instructions that the proceeds from the rents must be used to support the development of the school.
The Executioner of his will, Mr James Baiden and other stakeholders, including his children, as a result established the Dr G.W.T Annan Educational Trust Fund in his memory, in order to spearhead the fulfilment of his aspirations and sustain his cherished legacy.
Since the demise of Dr Annan about twenty-two years ago, the Trust Fund, which was instituted in his name, had continuously assisted the S.S Peter and Paul Anglican Junior High School at Saltpondand the Kormantse Basic Schools.
Speaking at a ceremony to officially inaugurate the refurbished library and the renovated classroom block, the Mfantseman Municipal Director of Education, Betty Kurentsiwa Smith, praised the managers of the Fund for their foresight.
She noted that education was the backbone of every society and the progress of any nation depended significantly on the quality of education the citizens acquire and, therefore, praised all stakeholders for their roles over the years in promoting quality education in the school.
“Our schools are central to the education system, but it takes collective effort of parents, teachers, chiefs, assembly members PTA, SMC businessmen and women and community organisations to create such a thriving educational ecosystem,” she said.
Stakeholders, she added, had a key role to play in ensuring that schools remained vibrant, inclusive and well equipped, with the necessary resources to enhance teaching and learning processes that would shape and mould the minds of the pupils.
The schools in the municipality, she said, faced a lot of challenges in delivering on their core mandate of equipping learners with necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the complicities of the world in which we are.
She, therefore, expressed profound gratitude to the Dr W.G.T Annan Educational Trust Fund for working closely with the school to address some of the major challenges such as inadequate infrastructure and limited teaching and learning resources.
The initiative by the Fund, to support and improve the quality of education in the school, falls under Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Additionally, connecting water to the school would go a long way to support Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) on water and sanitation, which seeks to ensure safe drinking water and sanitation for all.
