The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has pledged urgent government support to address the infrastructure challenges facing Fiaseman Senior High School (FIASEC) as the institution marks its 70th anniversary.
The school which was founded by the Late Jonathan Prah Kofi Ainoo, started as a secretarial school with about 12 students. Delivering the keynote address as Special Guest of Honour at a colourful ceremony held on Saturday in Tarkwa, Hon. Buah described FIASEC as a “tree with roots deep in the values of Fiase and branches spreading across the nation,” celebrating its transformation from a modest secretarial college with 12 students into one of the Western Region’s leading second-cycle schools.
“Honouring our past, inspiring the present, and building the future is not just a theme—it is a national call to action,” he said. “FIASEC’s story is a great one, but its greatest chapters are yet to be written.”
*Minister Promises Swift Intervention*
Responding to the school’s request on urgent infrastructural support, the Minister assured that he would personally engage the Minister of Education and other stakeholders to ensure the completion of an abandoned 12-unit classroom block and the provision of a new girls’ dormitory, school bus, and a modern science laboratory. He also vowed to prioritize the fencing of the school to curb encroachment that has reduced its land from 64 to 31.56 acres.
“We will secure the future of FIASEC by securing its land,” Hon. Buah emphasized.
Turning his attention to the region’s mining sector, Mr. Buah challenged companies operating within the Tarkwa-Nsuaem enclave to adopt more meaningful corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes that directly benefit education and health.
“It is unacceptable that a school like FIASEC, in the heart of mineral wealth, faces such basic challenges,” he said. “The greatest wealth of this land is not the gold or the bauxite underground—it is the bright young minds in institutions like FIASEC.”
He revealed that discussions are underway with the Ghana Chamber of Mines to establish a state-of-the-art Mining Hospital in the Western Region, envisioned to rival the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
“We must move past sporadic donations that sometimes appear as charity, to impactful legacy projects,” the Minister noted.
Addressing the students, Hon. Buah urged them to uphold FIASEC’s proud tradition of discipline and academic excellence, noting that no alumnus of the school has ever been withdrawn from a tertiary institution for poor performance or malpractice.
“Your legacy is not a weight upon your shoulders—it is a torch to carry forward,” he told the students. “Study hard, not just to pass exams, but to solve problems. The next great leader, scientist, or doctor can come from these very classrooms.”
Hon. Armah Buah concluded by commending the school’s Board of Governors, staff, PTA, and Old Students for their “unflinching service” over the years, calling for a united front among government, corporate Ghana, and traditional authorities to build an even brighter future for the institution.
“Let us all rise to the occasion—to build a future for FIASEC that is even brighter than its illustrious past,” he declared.
