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Sekyere Kumawu MP Equips 500 BECE Candidates for SHS, Pledges GH¢500 Reward for Top Performers
Ernest Yaw Anim renews education support initiative, urges parents to strengthen care for children and calls for improved school infrastructure
By Justice Baffour Awuah | DailyWatchGH.com
The Member of Parliament for Sekyere Kumawu, Hon. Ernest Yaw Anim, has supported 500 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates in the constituency with essential items to help ease the financial burden on parents and guardians as the students prepare to enter senior high school.
The items, which are expected to assist the beneficiaries as they begin their secondary education, included trunks, mattresses, chop boxes, cutlasses, rubber buckets, school bags, bowls and cutlery sets.
The intervention forms part of Hon. Anim’s continued commitment to supporting education in the Sekyere Kumawu District and marks the fourth consecutive time he has undertaken the initiative for BECE candidates.
According to the MP, the programme was designed to ensure that financial challenges confronting families do not become a major obstacle to the smooth transition of young students from basic school to senior high school.
Speaking to the media after the presentation, Hon. Anim said this year’s intervention was particularly significant because the beneficiaries had received many of the basic items required when reporting to their respective senior high schools.
He explained that his support for the students went beyond the provision of physical items, describing it as part of a broader vision to develop the human capital of the constituency.
“When we invest in the education of our young people, we are investing in the future of Sekyere Kumawu and Ghana,” he noted.
GH¢500 Reward for Best-Performing Students
As part of efforts to encourage academic excellence, Hon. Anim announced a GH¢500 incentive for the best-performing candidates.
He said the initiative was intended to motivate students to take their studies seriously and strive for excellent academic results.
The MP also pledged to visit some of the beneficiaries at their respective senior high schools to monitor their progress, encourage them and assess how they were adapting to their new educational environment.
MP Urges Parents to Be More Involved
Hon. Anim used the occasion to appeal to parents and guardians to take a more active interest in the academic and emotional wellbeing of their children.
He expressed concern that some parents rarely visited their wards in senior high schools or participated in Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meetings, making it difficult for them to keep track of their children’s academic performance and general welfare.
He urged parents to make regular visits to their children, provide the necessary educational materials and basic needs, and continuously encourage them throughout their education.
According to him, financial support alone was not enough to guarantee a child’s success.
He stressed that parental care, emotional support, guidance and words of encouragement were equally important, particularly for students who may struggle emotionally when they feel neglected.
The MP said efforts were being made to strengthen parental and emotional support systems for children in the district, emphasising that young people represented the future leadership of the country.
Human Capital Development Remains Priority
Hon. Anim further explained that human capital development remained one of his major priorities as an MP.
He said while physical development projects were important, investing in the education and skills of young people was equally critical to the long-term development of the constituency.
He expressed the hope that beneficiaries of the initiative would grow to become doctors, nurses, engineers, lawyers, teachers and other professionals who would contribute meaningfully to the development of Sekyere Kumawu and Ghana.
The MP said his greatest satisfaction would be to see the beneficiaries become educated, productive and financially independent citizens.
Anim Calls for Urgent Investment in School Infrastructure
The MP also appealed to the government and the Minister of Education to intensify efforts to address infrastructure challenges confronting schools across the country.
He cited inadequate classrooms, congestion and insufficient accommodation facilities as some of the challenges affecting teaching and learning in certain senior high schools.
He noted that inadequate sleeping facilities in some schools had resulted in situations where students struggled to secure beds and other essential accommodation arrangements.
Hon. Anim therefore called for increased investment in educational infrastructure to create a safe, comfortable and conducive environment for students and teachers.
Teachers Must Be Motivated and Students Protected
Hon. Anim also called for stronger measures to motivate teachers and improve their working conditions.
He urged the government, the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to continue working towards improving the welfare of teachers, stressing that motivated teachers were essential to delivering quality education.
The MP further condemned sexual relationships and other forms of sexual misconduct between teachers and students.
He called on the GES and education authorities to strengthen supervision and monitoring in schools to protect students from abuse, exploitation and other forms of misconduct.
He urged headteachers, supervisors and teachers to uphold the highest professional standards and place the welfare, safety and future of students above all other considerations.
Parents Praise MP’s Continued Educational Support
Parents and beneficiaries expressed appreciation to Hon. Ernest Yaw Anim for the initiative, describing the donation as timely support for families preparing their children for senior high school.
The parents said the cost of preparing a child for SHS could be significant, particularly when families were required to purchase several items before their wards reported to school.
They commended the MP for consistently supporting education in the constituency and for responding to the needs of students from different backgrounds.
They said the provision of mattresses, trunks, chop boxes, school bags, buckets, bowls and other items would give their children a more comfortable start to their senior high school education.
The parents appealed to Hon. Anim to sustain the initiative while encouraging other stakeholders to emulate his commitment to education and youth development.
Some of them also pledged to complement the MP’s efforts by taking greater responsibility for the academic, social and emotional wellbeing of their children.
Students Promise to Justify Investment
Hon. Anim urged the beneficiaries to take good care of the items and use them for their intended purposes.
He encouraged them to remain disciplined, study diligently and avoid negative peer influence that could undermine their academic progress.
He further challenged them to remain focused on their goals and work hard to bring honour to their parents, schools and the Sekyere Kumawu District.
The students, in response, expressed their gratitude to the MP and pledged to make good use of the items.
They assured him that they would remain committed to their studies, maintain discipline and strive for academic excellence to justify the investment made in their education.
The programme ended on a celebratory note, with students, parents and other attendees expressing appreciation for Hon.Anim’s continued support for education and young people in the Sekyere Kumawu District.
