Yefri (B/A), Aug. 10, GNA - Okoforobour Osei Bonsu II, chief of Yefri in the Nkoranza district of Brong-Ahafo Region has advised the students of the Yefriman Senior Secondary School (SSS) in the area to shun pre-marital sex as another way of preventing unwanted pregnancies, school drop-out and contracting HIV/AIDS.

Nana Bonsu was addressing the staff and students of the school at the end of year meeting he organised for them as part of the school's one-year anniversary celebration.

The celebration was to enable the authority of the school to take stock of their activities, including past achievements, problems and the way forward.

The chief urged the management of the school to redouble efforts in its planning programmes and called on the students to learn hard to enable them acquire better grades in their final examination.

"You should be very cautious as you join your friends during vacation., avoid yourselves in any negative practices that could have effect on your education", Nana Bonsu advised the students. He was grateful to the teachers of the school for accepting postings to the area in spite of the fact that the community lacked a number of social amenities as compared with the urban areas.

Nana Bonsu also commended chiefs of the catchment communities of Yefri for encouraging their people to enrol their children and wards with the school to enhance its growth and stressed that people in the catchment communities should continue to patronise the school to promote better education in the entire area.

He announced that he had demarcated a one kilometre square piece of land for the school for its future development and that he was also funding the construction of a six-classroom block for the school to enable it to admit more students for the 2005/2006 academic year. Nana Bonsu paid special tribute to the management of the Ghana Cement Company (Ghacem) for donating 100 bags of cement to support the on-going new classroom project estimated at 750 million cedis. The acting headmaster of the school, Mr Yaw Ntim Korsah announced that the school, has a population of 125 students - 65 boys and 59 girls- undertaking General Arts and Business programmes. It also has 10 teaching staff.

Mr. Ntim-Korsah praised the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the school for establishing a cordial working relationship with the staff, thus enhancing teaching and learning.

Mr. Ntim-Korsah complained of lack of a library facility, a science laboratory, inadequate text-books, a sports field and equipments as well as sanitary facilities on the school compound as some of the challenges facing the school.

He also expressed dissatisfaction about the practice of some parents and guardians in payment of their children's school fees and asked such parents to change for the better as it affected the management of the school.

Master Edward Tachie, Senior Boys' Prefect of the school commended Nana Bonsu for his foresight in establishing the school in the area because its presence had greatly helped parents who could not have afforded to educate their children in boarding schools outside their communities.

Master Tachie, on behalf of his colleagues appealed to Nana Bonsu, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), the Yefri community as well as other stakeholders to help provide the school with a means of transport to facilitate their movements to other places outside Yefri.