Africa-Press – Ghana. Dr Esther Yeboah Adzimah, Ho Municipal Education Director has urged stakeholders to adopt sustainable funding strategies to secure the future of schools’ sports festivals.
The Ho Municipal Director of Education, Dr Esther Yeboah Adzimah, has appealed for a long-term, well-structured funding model to support the continuation of basic and senior high school sports festivals in the Volta Region.
She made the call following recent concerns surrounding inadequate financing of sporting activities among second-cycle institutions in the region, which often rely on last-minute fundraising to remain afloat.
Dr Adzimah said sports remained a crucial pillar for academic progress and character development, stressing that consistent investment in school athletics should not be treated as an emergency intervention.
“If we believe that sports enhance academic success, and if we believe that sports prepare our youth for life, then we must move from emergency fundraising to structured sustainability funding,” she said.
The Director emphasised the need for strategic collaboration among alumni groups, corporate entities, community stakeholders, and development partners to secure resources early and transparently.
“We need a better approach, one that includes strategic partnerships with alumni corporate bodies, community stakeholders and development-oriented institutions,” she stated.
Dr Adzimah called for the institutionalisation of sponsorship frameworks that would create a dedicated fund to guarantee the festival’s continuity for decades to come.
“This festival should not struggle to survive each year. It should be secured, supported and strengthened, because investing in sports is not an expense; it is an investment in disciplined citizens,” she noted.
She urged alumni associations, local businesses, corporate institutions, traditional authorities, and other partners to view the development of school sports as a shared responsibility that must be sustained across generations.
Addressing participating athletes at the 50th Inter-Schools Sports festival at Mawuli School in Ho on February 11, 2026, Dr Adzimah encouraged discipline and sportsmanship, advising them to “compete with passion, integrity, respect for opponents, respect for rules, and respect for yourselves.”
