VRA awards scholarships to 60 needy students
The Volta River Authority (VRA) has, as part of its Community Development Programme (CDP), awarded scholarships worth GH¢1 million to 60 brilliant needy students to pursue higher education in the various public tertiary institutions across the country.
The awards ceremony, which covered 34 males and 26 females of the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 academic years of cohorts of beneficiaries selected from 23 traditional areas across the country, took place at Akuse last Thursday.
The well-attended ceremony, on the theme: “From Classrooms to Communities: Investing in Tomorrow’s Leaders”, attracted some board members of VRA, district and municipal chief executives, including Francis Akumatey Addo of the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly and others from the beneficiary communities, as well as traditional rulers and parents.
The VRA CDP aims to support sustainable development in communities impacted by their operations by investing in education, social infrastructure projects, cultural heritage, environmental sustainability, health initiatives and opportunities for industrial attachment.
The VRA has, since 2011, supported 445 students from communities around Akosombo, Akuse, Kpone, Tema and Aboadze.
Out of the number, 234 students benefitted at the senior high school (SHS) level before the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy introduced in 2017, while 241 had been supported at the tertiary level.
So far, 197 tertiary students have successfully completed their various courses of study, ranging from the sciences to the humanities.
Developing talents
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of VRA, Edward E. Obeng-Kenzo, said the CDP Scholarship strove to successfully encourage beneficiaries to develop their talents, which would lead to the holistic development of their communities, stressing, “The true measure of our success lies in the inspiring journeys and achievements of those we have supported over the years”.
He mentioned some of the beneficiaries who had become lawyers, engineers, medical practitioners, teachers, nurses and journalists, among other professions, through the CDP and were serving their communities and the country at large, including those outside the country.
He announced that an online scholarship application system had been designed to strengthen the application process, improve accessibility and ensure timely communication, which would go a long way to support the authority’s sustainability drive and build mutual trust.
“Our passion and prime focus is on education because we know that it is the surest way to break the cycle of poverty and reduce socio-economic inequalities,” the VRA CEO said.
The Deputy Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Benjamin Nai, who represented the Director General, lauded VRA for sustaining the scholarship scheme.
He said VRA had shown that true corporate social responsibility went beyond infrastructure to investing in the minds and the future of young people.
Awardees
He told the awardees that the day marked the beginning of a journey of excellence, discipline and service and urged them to carry the hope of their families and communities with pride and never forget to extend a hand to others when they could.
The leader of the VRA CDP alumni, Theodore Amegashie, a medical practitioner at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, thanked the VRA for the establishment of the CDP.
He mentioned a number of the beneficiaries, including himself, who were helping not only their respective communities, but Ghana as a whole after completing their various courses of study, adding, “This is what VRA wants to achieve and has started achieving it”.
The Chairman of the VRA Board, Awulae Attibrukusu III, congratulated the beneficiaries for being part of those who were successfully awarded the scholarships this year.
He entreated them to protect the scholarship in their various institutions of study, as anyone whose performance would fall below expectations would be withdrawn.
A representative of the beneficiaries, Magdalene Abla Yorm Gotah, thanked VRA for the honour done them and pledged that they were all going to safeguard the opportunity given them for the VRA to achieve its aim for the establishment of the CDP.
