Story: Mary Ankrah
THE Archbishop of Accra, the Most Reverend Charles Palmer-Buckle, has urged students to acquire book knowledge in addition to religious, moral and spiritual values.
He said the acquisition of book knowledge, facts and figures alone could not make a student a successful and upright citizen who was ready to contribute to the development of the country.
Religious and moral values, he said, could be acquired from teachers, especially from what they give outside the school curriculum, adding that every school must ensure that students were exposed to every form of knowledge from people who possessed it or from role models.
According to him, the religious, moral and spiritual component of education is essential and the fear of God must be inculcated in the students so that in anything they do, they would do it with a deep sense of responsibility and would answer to a higher authority someday.
He made this call at the 60th anniversary ceremony of the St Thomas Aquinas Senior High School last weekend in Accra.
The anniversary was on the theme: “60 Years of holistic Catholic education towards national development: The Day school experience.”
Archbishop Palmer-Buckle drew his advice from the youthful life of Jesus Christ and said obedience, healthy stature, wisdom, growing in the presence of God and love for one another were five indispensable qualities that ought to be inculcated into students.
On obedience, he urged the students to play their roles assigned them, noting that obedience would lead them to develop a sense of self discipline and control, a necessary engine to propel them in life.
In addition, Archbishop Palmer-Buckle said every student required being physically healthy for “a healthy mind is in a healthy body” and that was why the school had provided them with physical training and sports activities.
He urged teachers and parents to ensure that the students would grow in an atmosphere of love for one another.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Guest Speaker, Dr George Afeti, the Chief Inspector of Schools who read a speech on behalf of the Acting Minster of Education, Mr E. T. Mensah, urged the Old Toms to give back to the school what the school had given them and added that it was opportune for Old Toms to share their memories, sweet and sour, with the young ones so that the young Toms could learn from their spirit of hard work, fortitude and determination to uphold the truth.
“The dreams of the founding fathers can best continue to yield excellent fruits when Old Toms get more committed to their alma mater,” he said.
The Headmaster of the school, Mr Francis K. Ahiafor, said although the school had faced lots of challenges in the past 60 years, it had succeeded in living up to the tenets of academic excellence laid down by the founding fathers.
He said the school attained 96 per cent pass in the 2011 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Mr Ahiafor also stated that the school had received lots of infrastructure development from the government, the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) and other organisations.
He said the government was upgrading power supply in the school, with the school having its own transformer and streets lights to ensure maximum security on campus.
He said the PTA had built a modern art shop for the Visual Arts Department and donated a 58-seater bus to the school.
With a student population of 1,800, the headmaster said there was the need for a boarding facility to respond to the present demand of the educational system.
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