About 600 new senior high school (SHS) students in the Birim South District of the Eastern Region have received support from Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, the immediate-past Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES).

For those students who would be attending boarding institutions, he provided supplies and other food items to support them during their stay in school.

Prof. Opoku-Amankwa provided extra instruction and mock exam writing assistance to the candidates in order to help them get ready for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in 2022.

Pass

Many of those candidates have since gained admission to various SHSs and technical institutes, thatnks to favourable grades.

As they prepared to depart for school, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa presented them with the items as a means to motivate and encourage them in their studies.

His foundation is also supporting needy brilliant students in the district.

Presenting the items to the beneficiaries, he said the foundation of every country was on its educational system, and that it was, therefore, incumbent on nations to support the education of their children in order to develop and progress.

He said it was in that view that President Akufo-Addo introduced the free SHS programme since the development of the country’s human resources was key to its growth.

President

“When the President came to office, one thing he did not play with at all was education. Aside from the free SHS, he has also introduced free technical and vocational education and training (TVET) to provide hands-on skills to students.

“Moreover, he has set up the Ghana TVET Service to separately handle schools offering TVET programmes,” he said.

He said having taught at the university and served as Director-General for six years, he thought it proper to support the children in this area of their development.

The support to the children, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said, would continue.

Support

The Birim South District Director of Education, Henry Sintim, said the support was not the first from the former GES boss, and that it was something he had been doing for some years now. He thanked Prof. Opoku-Amankwa for his support for the children.

The Chief Executive of the Birim South District Assembly, Asare Danso, also commended Prof. Opoku-Amankwa for his continuous support to the district.

The beneficiaries expressed appreciation to the former GES boss.

They said the items would help them in their studies, and prayed for God’s blessings upon Prof. Opoku-Amankwa’s life.