Yale Young African Scholars 2019 programme ends in Ghana

The first of the 2019 sessions of the Yale Young African Scholars (YYAS) programme has officially ended at the Tema International School, Ghana, having run between Thursday, July 25 and Thursday, August 1.

YYAS is a high-intensity academic programme that brings together innovative and talented secondary school students from across Africa for a cost-free seven-day residential programme aimed at providing students with the tools and resources to apply for and gain admission to tertiary education institutions and gap-year programmes across the globe.

Across the 2019 sessions, YYAS is hosting 300 students between the ages of 14 and 18 from over 40 different countries. Associate Director of YYAS, Lucy Appiah, described the programme as “synonymous with the African Union (AU) Assembly”.

According to her, “the competitiveness of YYAS alone, having an acceptance rate lower than 6% this year, makes each participant an outstanding leader and representative from his or her country”.

Throughout the one-week session in Ghana, the participants were exposed to lectures led by Yale faculty including Michael Cappello, MD on global medicine, seminars produced by Yale students on topics ranging from vexillology to the history of money, as well as individualized, standardised test preparation classes.

Through these core YYAS components, students were encouraged to learn new skills, engage in critical thinking, and open their minds to new ideas and topics.

Outside of the sessions, students also had the opportunity to hear from local African leaders. Madam Abla Dzifa Gomashie, a woman who wears many hats including actress and as a former Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts role came by to speak to the participants about life in the arts as well as the importance of promoting and branding oneself.

Later in the week, Mac Sarbah, an innovative Ghanaian scholar, gave the students much to think about on the topic of social entrepreneurship in Africa. Rounding out the session, the students explored various problems in Africa and their potential solutions with former Yale University Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellow, Alex Asiedu.

Additionally, students were engaged by representatives from various universities such as Johns Hopkins, Columbia, NYU Abu Dhabi, Ashesi, African Leadership University and Rochester to learn about their admissions and financial aid application processes.

With expert contributions from these same universities, 60 educators from West Africa were introduced to university guidance strategies and resources so that they can offer application support to all the students at their schools who may want to pursue tertiary education abroad.

The Educators’ Conference run parallel to the YYAS programme and was organised by local partner Ahaspora, a youth and education access-focused organisation in Ghana. By equipping both students and educators with information about university access, the YYAS programme hopes to magnify its ability to help and support students across all Africa.

The amazing week in Ghana and all YYAS activities are made possible through the generous support of the Higherlife Foundation. Because of their contributions, YYAS continues to be free for all students and even offers travel stipends for students from low-income backgrounds.

The YYAS programme is currently ongoing in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and will end on August 14, before moving to Harare, Zimbabwe from August 18 - 25.