The Presbyterian Boys Senior High School, Legon (Legon PRESEC) is arguably one of the best senior high schools (SHS) in Ghana, and many a parent will jump in ecstasy when their sons gain admission there.
But Lydia Ofei, a resident of Suhum in the Eastern Region, burst into tears in utter dismay, when her son gained admission to Legon PRESEC.
Due to poverty, Lydia, a single parent of five, working as an attendant in a nursery school at Suhum, had advised her 16-year-old son to choose one of the three SHSs in Suhum as a day student because that is what she could afford.
However, Isaac Obeng, brilliant and ambitious, rather chose Legon PRESEC as a boarding student, and that is what generated inconsolable tears from the mother.
“When the results were released, I was happy and equally sad. I don’t have money, and so I told him to choose a day school in Suhum. But he said that (Legon PRESEC) was the only school he desired.
“And so when his admission came, I was very sad,” Lydia staggers her words through heavy sobs, even three months after the school selection.
Isaac is a deviant, not only of his mother’s words but also of the odds. He speaks refined English, one that defies the norm of a boy from a poor home and who attended Suhum M/A (Municipal Authority) Experimental ‘C’ Basic School, which is obviously not an ‘A-rated’ basic school in Ghana.
Even more defiant, Isaac, obtaining ‘Grade 1’ in all subjects except Social Studies and ICT, gained admission to Legon PRE SEC, the school he describes as the best in Ghana, which school is normally dominated by children with privileged backgrounds.
He is excited about being a student of Legon PRESEC and is relishing every moment of it, thanks to the benevolence of some good-hearted people who mobilised his needs and sent him to school.
The Director of the Suhum Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Education Service, Mrs Angelina Aba Osei-Bonsu, who led that cause, says she also contacted a teacher friend at Legon PRESEC, who bought some textbooks for Isaac.
According to her, the teacher, Alidu Baba, also introduced Isaac to some of his (teacher) colleagues to take him up for extra tuition at no fee.
Mrs Osei-Bonsu is also grateful to Daniel Bekoe, an officer at the Suhum Municipal Education Directorate, who brought the case of Isaac to her attention. Mr Bekoe had been following the progress of Isaac after discovering him at an inter-school quiz competition.
You can also learn a lesson from this brilliant boy, that, with determination and hardworking, all things are possible.
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