GANTA, Nimba – The administration of the John Wesley Pearson High School has officially broken ground for the fencing of the oldest government-run education facility in the city.

As part of efforts by the present administration to provide a better learning environment for the over 3,000 students at the school, a project for a fence surrounding the entire campus has officially begun.

In the brief groundbreaking ceremony conducted at the school’s campus in Ganta last weekend, Vice Principal Timothy Karle said the Pearson administration is building the fence in order to ensure that students’ activities are more organized and structured.

“We make sure to be on campus early in the morning, but the students – how can you control the students?” he said. “This is a very open place, so we are officiating this groundbreaking and we want all of your help.”

Jeremiah Koung, a representative for Nimba’s first district, estimated earlier this year that the cost of the fence would be around US$ 150,000. He initially supported funding the project through the Legislative Support Projects initiative, but soon changed his mind after speculations about the high price started.

“We wanted to do the fencing of the J.W. Pearson High School campus, but it will cost us US $150,000 to do the project and plaster the walls, and US$ 140,000 if we don’t plaster the walls. But, we just have US$70,000, so we decided to do hand pumps for our communities,” he said.

Karle revealed that the fence project is only one of several challenges encountered by the school’s administration. He said the administration’s first challenge was the school’s seating capacity.

“Some time ago, students were sitting on bricks,” he said. “Some brought their own chairs, and some even sat on the floor.”

Now, the administration is working to complete the fence project and will fund it on its own, along with support from the public.

Karle called on the public to help the school carry out this project to its completion, calling it “a very huge project” that this administration has decided to initiate on their own.

For his part, Regional Education Officer George Wuo; who represents Bong, Nimba, Margibi, Grand Bassa and River Cess; commended the administration for embarking on a “very important project” and pledged the government’s unwavering support to the project.

“We think this administration is doing very well here and we are going to support them in every endeavor,” Wuo said.

Established in 1950, the John Wesley Pearson High School has provided education for Ganta’s youth, many of whom come from low-income households.

Featured photo by Arrington Ballah