A Deputy Energy Minster and MP for Afigya Kwabre South, William Owuraku Aidoo, has called on students to make discipline a core part of their lives in school as it holds the key to their success in life.

He was speaking at the 71st anniversary speech and prize-giving day of Opoku Ware School in Kumasi. 

The event was the climax of a homecoming weekend organised by the school’s alumni, known as Akatakyie.

This year’s event was led by this year’s silver jubilee group, the AW group, whose turn it was to host it, having graduated from the school 25 years ago.

The theme for this year’s celebrations was ‘Building our human resources through individual and institutional discipline”.

The Deputy Minister, an old boy of the school with school number Z111, recalled his fond memories at the school and noted that Opoku Ware School has become what it is today because the founding fathers saw the importance of combining academic instruction with moral conduct and discipline. 

“It does not matter how academically gifted you are, if you are not disciplined in all your endeavours, you will not amount to much.”

He urged the students to get involved in extra-curricular activities on campus, make great friends and obey school rules. He thanked members of the school administration for their challenging work in managing adolescent students. 

He also congratulated the AW class for undertaking a landscaping project in the school to mark their silver jubilee, and also the BN and BU groups for marking their 10th and 5th anniversaries respectively by donating gifts to the school.

In his welcome address, the headmaster of the school, Rev. Fr. Stephen Owusu Sekyere expressed the deep appreciation of school management for the immense support Akatakyies have provided over the years in several ways, following which he reiterated some of the school’s successes and challenges.

The chairman for the event, Katakyie Prof. Ing. Mark Adom-Asamoah (AG79), immediate past Provost of the KNUST College of Engineering, noted in his remarks that over the years, senior high school alumni had made so many contributions towards their alma mater in the country.

“I believe this is because our secondary school years, and particularly the boarding system associated with it, coincided with our teenage and most impressionable years and therefore on our values and world view. As alumni, this love for our schools has translated into actual, tangible support for the schools in respect of infrastructure and personal development of the students. 

"This is primarily because government is unable to meet all these needs and therefore alumni feel a sense of moral duty to step in," he stated.

The Guest of Honour, Kat. Dr. John Oduro Boateng (W128), CEO of Emmanuel Eye Centre, Accra, for his part exhorted the students to make Christ the foundation of their lives as part of their training.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Guest Speaker, Kat. Kevin Okyere (AW296) the CEO of Springfield Oil Ltd. said the 21st century presents several opportunities for new ideas in every sphere and that it was imperative to equip the youth with the right educational tools that would enable them go out into the world and be innovative.

The President of the Akatakyie AW group, Kat. Dr. Kofi Busia Anane (AW129) revealed that after broad consultations the group settled on landscaping the front of the assembly hall as  their silver jubilee gift to the school.

“The project included the construction of a retaining wall and underground culverts to divert the path of the dining hall waste which had been an albatross around the neck of the school for many years.  

It also included the landscaping of the area previously used as a refuse dump into terraces to beautify the environment around the assembly hall. The cost of the project is estimated to be GHS700,000”, Dr. Busia noted.  

Other speakers at the event included the Global President of the Akatakyie fraternity, Kat. Mike Adu Domfeh (AB146) and the Board Chairman of the school governing board, Kat. Kwasi Ofori-Kuragu (C10) who formally commissioned the AW project after the event.

This year’s Akatakyie homecoming weekend event included a debate by the school’s Debaters and Writers’ Club, a mentoring session with the Form Three students, and a football gala, and was rounded up with a thanksgiving mass.

The AX group of the fraternity, whose turn it will be to deliver a silver jubilee project and host the speech and prize-giving day next year, also attended the event and declared their preparedness to live up to expectation.