Jaiama Secondary School clocks 53

The chairman of the board of governors of the Jaiama Secondary School in Kono District says that for nearly a century, Jaiama Nimikoro has been a trail blazer in the provision of not only quality education in the district and in the country, but also in the area of health care. Paramount Chief Aiah Denton Bona Foamansa III was speaking during the school's 53rd annual prize-giving on Saturday 12 October 2013. He said that it was only last year since the end of the war that the school had once again been "accorded the status of a WAEC examination centre," adding that this month, the school has also been designated a "centre for the Eastern Polytechnic intake examinations." PC Bona commended the strides made by the school authorities and assured them that "as long as we strive for the truth and stand for the right, as our school motto says, the local authorities and my entire administration will continue to support the school to achieve a deserving status and stand to be counted among other institutions as in the past." He called on the students to make use of the "golden opportunity", while urging the school administration to put high premium on discipline in the school. He also commended the school alumni association, the Jaiama Old Students Association (JOSA), for their continued support to the school. The chairman of JOSA, Prof. Aiah Albert Gbakima noted that the challenges of the school administration would reduce if the school authorities made use of and regularly consulted with the Paramount Chief who is chairman of the board of the school and an old boy himself, describing him as “a valuable resource and a reservoir of knowledge”. He warned the school authorities that distancing themselves from such a personality would only spell doom for the school. Prof Gbakima encouraged parents to see themselves as having the primary responsibility of instilling discipline in their children. "The school is there only to assist you in that venture", he said. Earlier in his state-of-the-school address, the principal of the school, Emmanuel Emerson Adonis Caulker lamented that of the 26 teachers in the school with a population of 498 pupils, 16, including himself, were not on government payroll. He called on the board and JOSA to do everything within their power to ensure that his teachers were approved, otherwise, he warned there was a possibility that he could lose them. The distribution of prizes including scholarships to pupils who excelled in all disciplines in the school formed the highlight of the ceremony while a thanksgiving service on Sunday 13 October, the actual anniversary of the school. A march past of pupils and old students in the main streets of Jaiama Nimikoro climaxed the occasion. © Politico 16/10/13