Best performing schools in the 2020 National West Africa Secondary Schools Certificate Examination (WASSCE) rankings for the Central Region have been awarded with citation of merit.

The ceremony, which was to motivate hard working teachers, students and their schools, saw seven schools receiving the awards.

Wesley Girls Senior High School (SHS) was adjudged the Best Performing School in the region, followed by St. Augustine’s College, and St. Theresa’s Seminary at Amisano.

Holy Child School, Ghana National College, Mfantsipim School and Bisease Ajumako SHS, followed in that order.

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, said the Government was laying a solid foundation where education would be the driver to transform the socio-economic fortunes of the nation.

That, he said, would in no time help to realise the Ghanaian dream where people would live a fulfilled life.

According to him, the performances of the free SHS graduates indicated that the policy was not a mistake but a necessary intervention, which had come to transform the country.

He said but for the Free Senior High School Policy, many students could not have made it to the secondary school.

Dr Adutwum expressed delight about the performance of the free SHS graduates and said it gave hope for the country.

He commended the students for their hard work and discipline in the schools, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Adutwum advised the students not to decry their present conditions but remain determined, focused, put in extra efforts in their studies and in the end, success would be their portion.

“You do not have an excuse not to be successful if you are in St. Augustine’s College or any of the schools receiving an award here. Train yourself and perceive opportunities to take you far. Study hard and something good will happen to you,” he said.

He urged the schools to keep the hard work and maintain their reputation saying the rest of the schools were also aiming to receive awards in the coming years.

Dr Adutwum encouraged the students to take advantage of the free SHS to fulfill the vision of the Ghana beyond Aid.

“Your determination to succeed is what will propel us into that kind of country where our better days will always be ahead of us,” Dr Adutwum said.

Madam Martha Owusu Agyemang, the Central Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), urged the region to maintain its pride as the citadel of education in Ghana.

She was not happy about the region’s performance in the recent WASSCE and urged all stakeholders to continue to collaborate to recapture their positions.

Madam Agyemang described the awards scheme as timely, which offered the schools the opportunity to reflect on their achievements and the envisaged successes.

Awards, she noted, encouraged competitive spirit and expressed the hope that it would ginger students to work harder in their academic pursuits and teachers to give of their best.

In 1958, the setting for a university graduation was obviously not as flamboyant as we have them today but the essence of those events cannot be said to have been any less.

In this photo of a graduation ceremony from the Kumasi College of Technology, now the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science of Technology, the graduating class is seen clad in rich kente, representing the great heritage of this country.

A few though, are spotted in their suits and matching flying ties.

With their signature post-independence haircuts to match, these fresh graduates are seen standing, as would be the situation when the National Anthem is being played.

The image was shared by the Ghana Stories (@Ghanaspotlight) on Twitter.

See it here:

• Alhassan Suhuyini says he will kick against the approval of Gifty Twum-Ampofo nomination

• He decision comes at the back of a corruption watch report which accused the MP of bribing delegates

• He said the MPs response suggests that her conscience is dead to the threat of bribery and corruption in Ghana’s democracy

Alhassan Suhuyini, the Tamale North MP, has indicated his decision to vote against the approval of Gifty Twum-Ampofo as the Deputy Education Minister.

According to him, the nominee who is also the Abuakwa North MP was not able to convince the committee members on bribery allegations levelled against her prior to the governing NPP primaries in 2020 within her constituency.

The MP was accused of bribing NPP delegates with a flat-screen TV set each, and GH¢1500.

At her vetting on Thursday, June 10, 2021, she was asked about a CDD-Ghana corruption watch report which accused her of bribing NPP delegates but Suhuyini was not happy with her response.

He said Twum-Ampofo’s response suggests that her conscience is dead to the threat of bribery and corruption in Ghana’s democracy.

“When her attention was drawn to the fact that in 2016 when she was less than a year old as an MP from the classroom and perhaps not as resourceful, that she alleged and criticized her competitor, the then NDC candidate for Abuakwa North, Ambassador Victor Smith, of attempting to buy votes in her constituency by giving two NPP executives GH¢1000 each to join his campaign, she categorically denied that under oath.

“I’m therefore disappointed in the nominee’s lack of candour and what seems to be a conscience that is dead to the threat of bribery and corruption to our democracy,” he said in a post on his social media timeline.

Alhassan Suhuyini further stated that his decision to vote against the nomination of Gifty Twum-Ampofo, Deputy Minister-designate for Education, has been communicated to the chairman of the Appointments Committee.

Read his post below:

I have just respectfully communicated my decision to vote against the nomination of Hon. Gifty Twum-Ampofo Deputy Minister-Designate for Education, to the chairman of the Appointments Committee.

My decision is borne out of my dissatisfaction with the nominees handling of questions regarding a CDD’s Corruption Watch assessment of the last NPP parliamentary primaries.

In that report, the nominee is said to have admitted to offering/bribing NPP delegates in the Abuakwa North constituency with GH¢1500 and a flat-screen TV each.

She repeated during her vetting that her conduct, which she downplayed, was not meant to induce and indeed did not induce the delegates.

When her attention was drawn to the fact that in 2016 when she was less than a year old as an MP from the classroom and perhaps not as resourceful, that she alleged and criticized her competitor, the then NDC candidate for the Abuakwa North Ambassador Victor Smith of attempting to buy votes in her constituency by giving two NPP executives GH¢1000 each to join his campaign, she categorically denied that under oath.

I’m therefore disappointed in the nominee’s lack of candour and what seems to be a conscience that is dead to the threat of bribery and corruption to our democracy.