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| Leadership |
Friday
September 9
th 2016 was solemn in GBHS Bamenda. The iconic Peter
Suh-Nfor Tangyie who had served the school for six years as the Principal was
handing over to Mr. Nkwenti Patrick from GBHS Downtown. Like the nostalgia many
have for the Obama presidency which is soon coming to end, it was so hard to
say good bye to someone who has secured a place in history as one of the best
principals the school has had!
Prior to his
arrival at the helm of GBHS Bamenda where he had previously served as a vice
principal and thus had a full grasp of the terrain and its challenges, there
was so much discontent amongst the staff and the working atmosphere was not as
cordial as it should be. So he hit the ground running! His first meeting with
the members of staff heralded a bright future for the school and many looked to
it with optimism and great expectations. He kicked off his open – door administration
with greater focus on actively promoting and rewarding pedagogic excellence, creativity,
academic initiatives, professional growth and development, academic excellence,
assiduity, discipline. With his amazing humility, he led the team by example,
taking up teaching periods and indeed setting the pace, undertaking academic
supervisions (I teach Physics and interestingly, he supervised me in one of my
US classes in a pleasant early-Monday-morning surprise and gave remarks at the
end of the day).He promoted the modernization of the school with ICT, the
acquisition of relevant books for the school library, the attendance of pedagogic
seminars etc. He was a very good custodian of school property and brought to
order students who damaged property. His down to earth administrative approach and growth mindset made him very open to proposals from both
the teachers and students. The playground was level and everyone had the same
opportunity and needs were attended to more promptly!
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| The two Principals, the Divisional Delegate and his entourage |
GBHS
Bamenda, being a school he held at heart, witnessed the extension of one classroom
building to a storey building with two large lecture halls. He pulled many development
actors together (the members of staff, ex-students, the PTA, the students etc) into
his vision. This enabled him to extend the administrative building and to further
elevate another befitting administrative edifice with a conference hall which goes
into use this academic year. He created another playground for the school.
This effort yielded more study space for excellence
to thrive. In a time where there is so much cry on the misappropriation of
public funds, we rather saw miracles being performed with very little.
Government is so strict on controlling the money school authorities collect
from students to keep education accessible and affordable. But GBHS Bamenda,
though a school in the city, has a sizeable number of staff members on the PTA
payroll besides the huge running cost of such an institution.
He instituted budget cutting measures and curbed
wasteful spending and relocated funds for the development of the school
infrastructure for posterity. The giant administrative building stands out as
one of the landmark legacies of his stewardship in GBHS Bamenda. Most schools
with such buildings were constructed in the Ahidjo era - it is no common
scene today!
It is so
conspicuously evident that his love for Cameroon is priceless – while many are
quick to park their bags and establish in the USA where standards are better,
life expectancy higher, economic situation good and lots of other advantages put
together in an almost irresistible package, he chooses to import the American leadership
style to Cameroon and improve the lot of his community. He refused to submit
himself to brain drain! This is patriotism at its best!
He embraced
and promoted the integration of technology into the school system. He is fully
part of the android age! While we get news of schools going on rampage over
computer fees the school authorities collected when there is no single computer
for use by the students, the privilege students of GBHS Bamenda enjoy a serene
atmosphere in the computer room well equipped with fully functional modern
computers with up-to-date programs! VP Tam incharge of the MRC and Mr
Abdoulaye, one of the most devoted teachers of the computer science department
and Mr Edward Menfogne, chief of the multimedia resource centers are some of
the engines that drive this modern technology in school. The last batch of advanced
level computer science students scored a lip-smacking percentage of 96.97 missing the 100% perfect score just by an inch; only one student out of 33 failed! GBHS Bamenda has gone a step
ahead with the production of computerized report cards and computer generated timetables!
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| Everyone was on the plough! |
The encouraging spirit of the Principal who saw the best in everyone and his
cordial relationship with all his members of staff, his working by example
approach appealed to all and everyone worked so hard without reserving energy!
Everyone was on the plough!
In his
friendly administrative style based on mutual respect and the fear of God, he
eroded the bribery channels. At some point in time in GBHS Bamenda, admission
was based on broad –day cash bribery of an amount that was fixed by the black
market forces and that was accepted as the norm by some! That is now history!
The persistent
water crises in GBHS Bamenda got a whole lot of attention and the situation,
though not perfect, is far better now than it was before he took over. Working
with the ex-student union, so much was invested to ensure more regular water
flow in school and better hygiene.
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| Farewell, Princi! |
In his bid
to promote creativity in our students, he actively encouraged the full
functioning of clubs and even coordinated the drama club and produced a film,
from one of the Advanced Level Literature books and they visited some schools
and performed there. It was in his time that we in the science club attained
the peak of science fair activity. The entire school ended up producing a
documentary and a school magazine, feats that were so rare in the life of the
institution and many other government schools! Our regular staff meetings were
always spiced up with local and guest speakers specialized in particular fields, through
whom we learnt a lot and grew professionally! This is when one understands that
GBHS Bamenda is so endowed with enormous human capital and talent. Peter
Suh-Nfor Tangyie conceived and promoted these professional growth ideals! All
of these kept GBHS Bamenda on a high pedestal as one of the best government schools
in the country, true to its motto, “Excellence forever”! The GCE results speak
for themselves!
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| Seminar |
The birth
and growth of the Regional Inclusive Education Resource Center were all under his active support.
With the dynamism of our fantastic and very passionate Mme Forbuzie Bridget who is th
e Educational Advisor for the Socio-Economic Empowerment of People with Disability (SEEPD) program, GBHS Bamenda community is so proud to
be pace-settings in inclusive education! The
Principal attended most private meetings related to the center and gave his
full backing on training seminars that took place in school to build the
capacities of teachers on disability issues! This is a program that I enjoyed
every bit of it because almost everything surrounding it was a novelty to me! Our
regular staff meetings had a training slot on sign language and the teachers
with very open minds whole-heartedly embraced and really made the learning
(even at old age) so much fun! Our candidates who sat for the GCE had
outstanding results and the quality skills the students acquire from the
program make us so proud as an inclusive community!
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| GBHS Bamenda Ladies |
Another very
awesome gift Tangyie Peter Suh-Nfor has is that of public speaking; his
eloquence, critical thinking, tact and persuasive power of speech leaves no one indifferent! Each time we
had public occasions and the Principal had to address the crowd, we were set
for drama and exciting surprises! GBHS Bamenda kept trending high after any
such events – the “amicals”, the party periods, the staff meetings, the Monday morning
assembly speeches to the students! It’s not finished yet! When GBHS Bamenda was
going through the valley of the shadow of death with 3 vice principals and
other members of staff dying in a single academic year, each time the principal
spoke
at such funerals, it was very
uplifting and deep . It made everyone see the silver lining in the cloud!! He
found the right words to express our thoughts, his ideas represented us all –
we were more together as a family – one big family, with one purpose –excellence
in all our endeavour! There was no francophone or Anglophone! Moreover, he had no overt
political affiliation and could relate with all without prejudice.
You can now
understand why it was so hard for the GBHS Bamenda community-both teachers and
students to let go Tangyie Peter Suh-Nfor! The ladies corner honored him on
this day in their sparkling uniforms.
But GBHS Bamenda is blessed with another very astute
administrator/pedagogue with a very rich tract record, Mr Nkwenti Patrick! His
page is loading…
God willing,
I will be back!
Akaba A.
James
Teaching Excellence & Achievement Alumni
Physics Department
Government Bilingual High School Bamenda
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