Akorette Cecil Mensah, the President of the 1987 Group of past students (Akorette) of Achimota Basic School, has called on past students of basic schools to regularly honour, reward and host their past teachers for the exemplary role they played in inculcating useful values into them.

"For us at the boarding in the primary level, teachers and housemasters, were more than guardians as they were are very parents who ensured that we were well catered for and stayed healthy and academically astute- they inculcated in us the ‘Achimotan Spirit’, he said.

Akorette Mensah said this at the recent 59th Speech and Prize Giving Day held at the premise of the school.

The event was held under the theme: “learning without drugs, the perfect path to academic excellence”.

He said it was at the primary level that he was first introduced to and learnt that diversity, passion and teamwork are important but more important is the need to move forward in cohesion- “work together irrespective of our background and differences” was the core of the training we received.

Akorette Mensah said our teachers told us that “with passion no obstacle will be too great, no victory will be enough, and mediocrity will just exist as a word in the dictionary.

He called on past students of basic schools to participate regularly in the activities of their alma mater and use the opportunity to reward and recognize the roles of all the teaching and non-teaching staff.

Mrs Edith N. D. Kyeremateng, the Headmistress of Achimota Basic School, said to help unleash the full potentials of our pupils and students, various clubs have been formed in the school and students are obligated to join and these include Science Club, Scripture Union, Red Cross, Cadet, Choir Cultural group, Girls’ Guide and debating club.

She said the school has a general enrolment of 2,862 which is made up of 1,464 male and 1,398 females, with seven hundred and twenty-nine of them being boarders and two thousand one hundred and thirty-three as day pupils.

Mrs Kyeremateng said the school has one hundred and five teaching staff (105) and 81 non-teaching staff. She said in the year under review, the school presented 276 candidates for the examination.

Out of this number, Mrs Kyeremateng said, two hundred of them have presented their entry documents for Senior High School for endorsement. And majority of them gained admission into first class Senior High Schools (option school).

Mrs Kyeremateng said next year, the school would be celebrating its sixtieth anniversary and called all Akorettes to lend their support to ensure the success of the various of the various activities lined up.

Distinguished personalities who graced the event include: Mrs Margaret Okai, Director Basic G.E.S and chairman for the event, Dr Hilda Eghan our Special Guest of Honour, Mrs Margaret Frempong-Kore, the Metropolitan Director of Education and Akorette Professor Badu Akosah, Former Director- General, Ghana Health Service.