Three students excel in essay competition

Three senior high school (SHS) students have been adjudged winners of the Median National Essay Competition organised by the United Bank for Africa (UBA).

The ‘Win a University Grant competition’ was launched by the UBA Foundation, the corporate and social responsibility wing of the bank, for SHS students in Ghana in September 2014.

Interested applicants attached photocopies of their original birth certificates to their handwritten essays of not more than 750 words on the topic, ‘Is Social Media a safe place to make friends?’. 

Winners

Out of the 12 finalists, comprising five boys and seven girls from12 SHSs across the country, Ms Paulina Boadiwaa Mensah, a 16-year-old student of the Wesley Girls’ High School in Cape Coast, emerged the overall best.

For her prize, she received an educational grant of GH¢17,700 to cover her tertiary education, a trophy, a laptop and a certificate.

The first runner-up was Esther Tsey Makafui, a 15-year-old student of Mawuli School in Ho, while a student of Keta SHS, Dorcas Nuku Darko, emerged the second runner-up.

They received GH¢12, 390 and GH¢7,080, respectively, towards their university tuition fees, a laptop and a certificate each from UBA.

All the other finalists received a laptop and a certificate each.

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Minister’s advice 

In his keynote address before the presentation of the bursaries and other prizes, the Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary Education, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, advised SHS students to take the study of the English Language seriously.

He said the advent of social media was negatively affecting written and spoken English, especially among SHS students, adding that English and Mathematics posed major challenges to students in examinations.

To improve the teaching of English, Mathematics and Science at the SHS level, Mr Ablakwa said the government had increased the allocation for trainee teachers in the 2015 budget.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the UBA, Ijeoma Aso, in a remark, explained that the initiative was in line with the bank’s belief that education was the key to improving the lives of people.