Rotarians and partners mentor students of Akplaku M/A Cluster of Schools

By Selorm GBORBIDZI, Accra

The Rotary Club of Accra – Legon, together with other clubs under the Rotary and Lions banner have undertaken a mentorship programme for the Junior High School students of the Akplaku M/A Cluster of Schools.

They also donated about 300 books to stock up the library which serves the three schools which make up the cluster, and organised a mental health clinic for teachers in the schools.

As part of the two-day programme of activities, the clubs planted about 700 trees across the schools in the circuit.

The teachers were taken through a lecture on the types of mental health issues that confront people, particularly children, and how to identify them.

They also received individual sessions with psychiatrists from the Pangtang Hospital.

The students were however taken through career mentorship sessions, where individual Rotarians counseled them on the prospects for their future, and what career options lie ahead of them.

They were also given advice on how to identify and maximise their talents, as well as the academic options that they might consider pursuing to achieve their dreams.

Some of the mentors told the students to avoid the fear of failure and try new things in order to discover what hidden gifts they have been given.

“Feel free to fail. This is not the time to worry about embarrassment, because it will be worse in the future when you actually have something to lose,” a mentor told one of the eager classes.

President of the Rotary Club of Accra – Legon, Jaden Cyril Sena Adjei, said the mentorship programme was a regular event in the club’s calendar, following the decision to adopt the Akplaku Cluster of Schools and help them with their mentorship and career guidance programme.

He indicated that although this was not their first interaction with the students, they had managed to bring in other “partners in service” like other Rotary clubs, the Lions club, the Rotaract clubs, and the Leos clubs, which are the youth wings of the Rotary and Lions clubs respectively.

They also involved qualified mentors and influencers whom these children are familiar with on social media, to direct them positively.

President Adjei indicated that the programme had been intentionally focused on the Junior High School students, going as far as to call back the recent candidates for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) to be a part of the event.

He said, “we did not only come to mentor them, we’ve also adopted their library to stock it with books.

Two years ago we brought them books, but we knew it would not be enough, because we are dealing with so many students.”

President of the Accra Gye Nyame Lions Club, Reagan Ohene Boakye, said the club had joined in the exercise because they had recognised the importance of giving hope to young people.

He was happy for the opportunity to positively influence these young people and provide them with books.

He said that these activities were part of their projects, which they are steadily executing to bring relief to identified groups and communities.

President of the Rotary Club of Accra East, Serge Sourou Oga, commended the organisers for bringing along mental health professionals as part of the programme, noting that the mental health aspects of such outreach programmes are generally disregarded, even though many people have need of this service.

He explained that they had educated these teachers on how understanding the mental health issues can lead them to support their pupils, especially when they need help.

Oga explained that they had given opportunity to teachers who felt the need for special care to speak to qualified specialists.

This, he said, will not be the end, but could lead to more of such initiatives being adopted widely.

Delasie Dogbey, the Service Projects Director of the Rotary Club of Accra-Legon, stressed the importance of prioritizing mental health for educators.

He said in an interview, “teachers often face mental health issues that, if left unaddressed, can negatively impact the quality of education. By addressing their mental health needs, teachers can create a positive learning environment for their students.”

The Headmaster of the Akplaku M/A Basic School, who also doubles as Deputy Director of the Ghana Education Service in the Bortianor Circuit, Paul Otabil, said the intervention of the Rotary Club in the school has improved the performance of thei students, especially in the areas if Information Communication Technology (ICT) and reading, since they established a computer laboratory and a library for the students.

He noted that the mentorship session will help the students make informed decisions about their future opportunities and the courses they ought to pursue in Senior High School (SHS).

He called for more of such programmes to be done to improve the mentality and output of students.

Some of the clubs that participated in the event are the Rotary Club of Akosombo-Dam City, Rotary Club of Accra Speakmasters, the Rotary Club of Ho, Rotaract Club of Weija, the Rotaract Club of the University of Ghana and the Accra Gye Nyame Leos Club.