Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD, Bishop of Ho, has commissioned a six- Unit Classroom Block for the St. Joseph R.C Primary School at Avatime Biakpa with a call on stakeholders to continue resourcing schools with teachers, teaching and learning materials.
The School built by the Ho Diocese has an office and store, staff common room, 90 dual desks, seven teachers’ tables, chairs, cupboards and white boards. The Diocese also presented a six-unit water closet toilet facility to the School authorities.
At a durbar attended by Chiefs and people of the Area and Stakeholders of Education, Bishop Fianu noted that the commissioning was not only blessing and dedicating the teachers and children to God but was also to physically hand over the School building to the Avatime Biakpa community, whose direct beneficiaries were the children, parents and the Chiefs.
He said by commissioning the School building, it has transformed the private effort of the Church into a Public Basic School, noting that this conscious step of the Church required a collaborative and harmonious deliberation among the stakeholders.
The Bishop added that the Diocese was not only interested in the provision of School infrastructure but also in sensitization programmes for girls in all the core subjects in the school curriculum.
He said though the Catholic Church in the Avatime Traditional Area was still at the infantile stage, efforts were being made to grow and expand the Church.
He stated that “the Catholic Church is not in any competition with any other institutions but merely bringing the same faith and belief in Jesus Christ in the way and manner Catholics would do it.”
The Bishop expressed gratitude to Kindermissionswerk in Germany for providing finance resources for the construction of the facility and acknowledged the good works of Golpet Construction Company and the Diocesan Development Office for their immense contributions towards the successful execution of the project.
Mr. M.A.K Buadi, Volta Regional Director of Education, said the commissioning further consolidates the ever-green commitment of the Catholic Church to remain a critical partner to the State in the promotion of quality education delivery.
He said education thrived in an environment where children are well-nourished and ready to participate in the learning process and asked that they be supported by families and communities. He commended the Church for putting up the magnificent building to support quality education delivery in the Volta Region.
Togbe Takyi X, Chief of Avatime Biakpa, expressed appreciation to the Bishop in particular and the Ho Diocese in general for the School block, which had raised the Educational status of the Area.
He said the edifice was not just a place for primary education but a higher centre of learning, appealing to the indigenes of Biakpa to patronise the School and advised that good care be taken of the facility to prevent early deterioration.
He also appealed for a Volta Regional campus of the Catholic University in the Area, which has a vast land acquired by the Church. This he said will enable the less academically endowed students to access tertiary education at their door steps.
