Akropong (E/R,) March 02, GNA-The Akropong School for the Blind has appealed to First Lady, Mrs Naadu Mills to take over the mantle as its Chief Patron and help mobilize resources to support the school. This is because by the statute of the school, every First Lady of the country is expected to be the Chief Patron of the school.

The Headmaster of the School, Mr J. S. Amanor made the appeal during the presentation of cocoa products to the school by the Ghana Cocoa Board as part of activities to mark this year's Open Day of the school on Saturday. The items presented include five cartons of chocolate, 10 cartons of all time cocoa drink and an amount of 1,000 Ghana Cedis.

The presentation was made by Mr. Vincent Okyere Akomea, Manager at the Office of the Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board and was received on behalf of the school by Mr. Annor. Mr. Annor said the school was started with 4 pupils, 1 girl and 3 boys on August 6 1945 on the premises of the then Presbyterian Teacher Training College and later moved to its present location. Since then, the student population has grown to 315, made up of 176 male and 139 females with 53 teaching staff and 44 non-teaching staff.

Mr. Annor said, the school has a complex structure of a kindergarten, primary and Junior High Schools, a vocational, rehabilitation, resource centre and a low vision centre. He said the Sight Savers Internationals funded the refurbishment and equipping the resource centre with assertive devices which would enable student with low vision sight to access information on their own with ease.

The School Prefect, Master Peter Ofori Amanfo disclosed that, for the pass two years, the school scored 100 per cent in Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). He appealed to the public, the government and other stakeholders to support the school with teaching and learning materials and expressed the hope that with such facilities, the school could trained more people and help reduce the number of beggars with sight problems on the streets.