Specifically, the general needs include painting of all buildings, lack of sports equipment, unhygienic conditions in the dormitory areas, refurbishing of the old showers and toilets, fixing of dormitory door locks and the usual general indiscipline.

On a positive note, the road to Persco seems to be undergoing some reconstruction starting with side gutters. The dusty road had recently been graded but yet to be coated with tar. It got me thinking why the road to such a great school should be in this bad condition after forty (40) years.

We arrived on campus mid morning and witnessed some classes enjoying PE. Most of the students were playing basketball in their school uniforms or shirts off instead of gym shorts and T-shirts. Students participating in soccer were either in their undershirts or bare chested. Instead of a soccer ball, they were using a basketball. The volleyball nets were also in sad shape with holes everywhere. No one was playing volleyball. I did not see any PE instructor or any form of organized sports. I counted more than 30 students playing one basketball on the soccer field. Of course right after PE, all the students went straight to the classrooms without showering. You can just imagine the scent when we walked by the doors.

We took a quick walk around the dormitories. The old structure hosting Porres, Claver and Luanga block had padlocks on all the doors. Supposedly “thieves” have broken into all the rooms requiring the use of padlocks. Imagine that the one security guard at the school gate saluted my Camry without asking any questions. Most of the mosquito nets on the windows had holes in them. The scent of urine and feces permeated the whole area forcing my driver to ask “Are the kids relieving themselves around the building?” One student thought it could be from the KVIP which may need some sort of Septonic treatment or some sort of major league evacuation process.

Instead of drying clothes on the lines in front of the dorms, some students had their clothes strewn on the lawn behind the staff room or on hedges behind the sick bay. Ten steps away from the staff room we discovered a Prayer Room for Muslims. I interviewed one student who was using the room as study room regarding the state of the room which needed painting. There were about 7 mats on the floor. The walls all had graffiti not fit to publish on the Internet.

The issue of discipline in my opinion was reflected in the unusual amount of plastic waste on campus. The garbage dump behind the dormitories is now too close, and is not been managed. The scent of putrid waste is strong on campus. There seems to be a general “I-don-t-care” attitude on campus regarding the environment. Majority of the students I saw did not have their shirts tucked in.

The buildings on campus needed painting. Even with the presence of students, the state of the building made one wonder if the school has been abandoned. After about an hour on campus taking pictures, the History teacher invited me to speak with the Sir. House Master, Mr. N. Adekema. Discussions centered around the SSCE results for 2004. Given the quality of the results, it seems there was a significant increase in performance over 2003 results. The ranking system published in the Ghanaian newspapers created the wrong impression that Persco did not do well last year. Certain schools rank higher by presenting fewer students who get 5 E's (passes) or more. The Sir. House Master would appreciate all the help that we as old students can put out, specifically in the areas of funding and computer sciences.