By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
Opoku Ware Senior High School in Kumasi has become the first among second-cycle institutions in the country to adopt IT infrastructure to address the rising cases of indiscipline among students and insecurity on campus.
This follows the installation of 24-hour security surveillance infrastructure valued at $100,000 for closer monitoring of the activities of students and staff within the school.
As a Catholic School, Opoku Ware Senior High School, popularly called OWASS, always has its eyes on high moral standards and discipline among its students, as well as safety and security on campus. But, with a high student and staff population, effective monitoring has become challenging, with some adventurous students exploiting the situation to break bounds or indulge in acts of indiscipline, while some members of the nearby communities are taking advantage of the part of the school that has not been fenced to trespass.
Recently, the vehicle of one of the female staff of the school was stolen from the campus. It has cost the ‘x-Group’ constituting the 1973-1980 Year Group of the Old students of the school, popularly referred to as ‘Akatakyie’, $100,000 to build the 24-hour campus-wide security installation meant to enhance effective monitoring of activities of both the staff and students, with the Headmaster now capable of seeing happenings within the premises even on his mobile phone.
The President of the 1973-1980 Year Group of Akatakyie, Dr. Isaac Nuamah, assured the school that his Group would maintain the equipment.
According to the Chief Executive of GLOVIL, the company that installed the 24-hour security system, Gideon Obeng Brako, the infrastructure involves 64 cameras, providing real-time video evidence of every activity within the entire premises of the school, with specific emphasis on the dormitories, dining hall, administration, classrooms, and all the entry and exit points through underground cables, which have been connected to a monitoring system at the school’s administration block.
The Headmaster of Opoku Ware School, Reverend Father Stephen Owusu Sekyere, who is also the National President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools, CHASS, said the facility has come in handy as it will not only help him reduce indiscipline on campus but also boost academic work.
Rev. Father Owusu Sekyere mentioned a modern, spacious administration, tartan tracks for athletic development, and enhanced landscaping as some of the urgent needs of the school as it strives to become a serious 21st century school.
The Head Boy of the School, Andrew Asare Nyame, allayed the fears of the students of an invasion of their privacy, as the security installation is meant for their safety and security while in school.
