January 14, 2020//-Ghana’s Wesley Girls’ Senior High School (SHS) located in Cape Coast in the Central Region has produced the third winner of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Foundation National Essay Competition.
Ms Assanwaa Akpene Yankson of the school emerged as the overall winner of the sixth edition of the competition for the year 2019.
She therefore became the third student from the school to win the competition since its inception in 2014.
Ms Yankson follows Paulina Bedwiwaah Mensah who won in 2014 and currently pursuing medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Hannah Akahoho Segbefia who won the competition in 2016 and also studying Biochemistry at the same University.
Ms Yankson received an amount of $5,000.00 and a trophy as the overall wining prize.
She was followed closely by Nathaniel Mawuli Fleku, a student of St. Mary’s Seminary Senior High School in the Volta Region as the first runner-up, while Desmond Duodu Yeboah of Opoku Ware Senior High School in Kumasi picked the second runner-up prize.
They received $3000 and $2000 respectively. The cash prize serves as an educational grant for the winners to study in any African university of their choice.
While each of the 10 finalists was given a UBA branded laptop and a certificate to encourage them and others to participate anytime there is such an opportunity.
The sixth edition of the UBA Foundation National Essay Competition recorded over a thousand applications from schools across the 16 regions of Ghana.
The emotional but exciting moment came when the three winners were announced for their various scholarships at the award ceremony held at the British Council Hall in Accra Monday, January 13, 2020.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Managing Director of UBA Ghana, Isong Udom congratulated all 10 finalists and encouraged them to utilize the platform given to them to excel in their academic pursuits.
“UBA is very committed to the area of education of the African in a bid to further transform the continent” Mr Udom said.
He also congratulated Ms. Dorcas Darko, a past beneficiary who graduated from the University of Ghana in 2019 and advised the winners to emulate her example by taking their studies seriously to realize their academic dreams and aspirations.
A Deputy Minister of Education and MP for the Bosomtwi constituency in the Ashanti Region, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum congratulated UBA for the initiative to support governments’ drive for ensuring that all eligible Ghanaian students are given the necessary opportunity to access education to the highest level possible.
He recounted his experiences and encouraged the students to strive hard to achieve their dreams through hard work and determination.
Dr. Adutwum urged other companies operating in Ghana to emulate the shining example of the UBA.
The announcement of this year’s awardees means that, the Bank will now sponsor 18 students to attend any University of their choice across Africa.
Instructively, the National Essay Competition, a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative of UBA Foundation after its launch in Ghana in 2014, has provided a competitive platform to develop the intellectual and writing abilities of SHS students in Ghana as well as granting winners fully paid scholarship into any University in Africa.
African Eye Report
