Anlokrom Pretea Municipal Assembly (MA) Basic School in Ahanta West has been without power for the last 37 years.
It has affected the school’s study of ICT, Science, and vocational training while teachers and students had to endure sitting in heat and darkness during class hours.
Yinson Ghana, an oil and gas service company that is also responsible for the maintenance and
operation of the oil production platform FPSO John Agyekum Kufuor has provided off-grid rooftop
sustainable solar energy for the school.
Each classroom is fitted with lights, sockets and ceiling fans, washroom lights, and twenty security lights for the compounds.
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Yinson also took an extra step and provided a refrigerator and fire extinguishers for each of the three
school blocks.
According to the school headteacher, the lack of electricity was a major setback in
learning ICT which was compulsory and an examinable subject for all 312 students of the school.
Mr. Benjamin Yankey, the headmaster of the school, said the solar electricity will now help the students
in their ICT subject, “Before, the teachers only took the students through the theory and not the hands-
on training using the computer.”
The school’s urgent need for power supply came to Yinson’s attention in 2019 when the company was
looking for schools in the locality to donate laptops too.
Edward Mensah, the corporate social officer of Yinson, decided to take action and provide the school with basic electricity when the company realized that Prestea (MA) Basic School did not even have the basic power supply.
“We at Yinson are glad that today, students can now use the classrooms for evening classes, and we hope that the ceiling fans would provide comfort in the classrooms for both students and teachers,” he said.
The Municipal Director of Education, Mr. Mark Adoba, who officially opened the system, encouraged
the school to maximize its use of solar energy to enhance ICT and science education of the students.
“This is a public school, which should not be supported by government alone but individuals, philanthropists, and institutions among others” he added.
Nana Kofi Yankom IV, Chief of Pretea thanked Yinson Ghana for supporting schools in the area and also
pointed out how the company had been improving education in the surrounding areas. He reminded the
school to keep good maintenance of the solar energy system.