US Embassy opens EducationUSA in Accra

The US Embassy in Accra has officially inaugurated its new EducationUSA Centre, a facility dedicated to assisting Ghanaian students seeking higher education opportunities. 

The centre, opened in Osu-Accra last Wednesday (November 27, 2024), is a US Government sponsored network of 450 centres in 170 countries around the globe, mandated to provide comprehensive, current, accurate and impartial information on US higher education.

Its services include personalised advising, guidance on obtaining student visa, workshops on standardised test preparation. It is the second centre opened in the country as another centre is stationed in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

Present at the short ceremony to open the centre were the US Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer; the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, Maamle Andrews, and the Osu Mantse, Professor Notse Nii Nortey Owuo IV.

Statistics

In her address, Ms Palmer said the EducationUSA underscored the US’s commitment to fostering educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Ambassador Palmer emphasised the role of education in strengthening bilateral ties; stating that through the Centre, the US Embassy aimed at equipping Ghanaian students with the tools they needed to achieve academic success and contribute to their communities.

She commended the interest of Ghanaian students in pursuing higher education in the US stating that Ghana ranked as the 18th in the number of countries with most students in the US.

For scholarship opportunities, the US Ambassador explained that Ghanaian students in the US earned nearly US$9.2 million (GHS145 million) in scholarship last year to more than 680 higher education institutions in all 50 States in the US.

Ambassador Palmer indicated in the first two months of last summer, the US Embassy did 10,000 interviews to get some students in class on time.

Appreciation

Mrs Andrews, expressed excitement at the opening of the Centre in Accra which would provide another opportunity for Ghanaian students across the country.

“This will provide opportunities for Ghanaian students who hitherto might have had some form of difficulty in accessing and processing their applications to enter one of the US schools. We are truly excited because it offers us the opportunity to deepen the relationship between Ghana and the USA,” she said.

Mrs Andrews added that the presence of the centre in the capital would also help shore up the human capital in the country by offering students the opportunity to improve their skills and pursue their dreams.

For his part, the Osu Mantse, Notse Nii Nortey Owuo IV, expressed optimism that the Centre would help revolutionise educational interest among Ghanaian students to pursue higher studies.

He added that education was the path to eradicating poverty in the country as it offered the opportunity to the populace to think critically and solve our problems as a country.

The Osu Mantse urged Ghanaian students to take advantage of the Centre and further their studies and return to contribute to the development of the country.