Dr George M. Afeti, Executive Secretary, Chief Inspectorate of Schools, Ministry of Education has said about 57 per cent of candidates in the age bracket of 15-18 have missed the opportunity to gain admission into the Senior High School.

He said myriads of challenges were responsible for the high dropout rates including poverty and lack of adequate infrastructure.

Dr Afeti said this at the 40th Anniversary celebration of the Nkwanta SHS under the theme, “Quality Education, A Tool for National Development: Successes and Challenges in Deprived Environment.”

He said the junior high school level had enjoyed many social and pro-poor interventions including school feeding and capitation grant which was responsible for the high numbers and suggested that similar intervention be replicated at the SHS level to contain the large numbers.

“Government in collaboration with the telecommunication companies in particular and corporate Ghana in general should interface by rolling out pro-poor bursaries and scholarship schemes,” he said

Dr Afeti said if nothing was done to ameliorate the high dropout rates, the future progression of the country would be endangered.

He appealed to students to justify the investments of government and their parents by learning hard and not waste time on unconstructive issues.

Mr Francis K. Ganyaglo, the Deputy Volta Regional Minister, said the government was doing all things possible to bring second cycle education closer to students hence the colossal investments in the sector.

He mentioned Nkwanta North, Nkwanta South, Krachi Nchumuru and Biakoye are recipients of the President John Mahama’s 200 SHS project urging major actors to support the scheme to succeed.

Mr Sebastian Kutorb, the Headmaster of the School, said the the school scored 100 percent in four consecutive years in the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

He said the School population now stands at 1,100 from the initial 75 who began it at inception.

Mr Kutorb enumerated the challenges of the School as congestion in the dormitories, library and dining hall and requested for new infrastructure.