Miss Patricia Nkansah, a first year student of Achimota School, has won the ‘Lawrence Addo Prize for Best BECE Results’ at the annual scholarship awards ceremony of the National Partnership for Children’s Trust (NPCT) held in Accra last week.

For her award, Miss Nkansah received an amount of GH¢1, 200.00 in scholarship for the 2014-2015 academic year.

Seventy eight other deserving bright but needy pupils and students from various educational institutions and levels received scholarships totaling GH¢73,000.00 including Miss Nkansah’s, from a number of donors for the year.

The grants, a substantial amount of which were donated by Mr Lawrence Addo, a Ghanaian businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist, ranged from GH¢300.00 per annum for beneficiaries in the Junior High Schools (JHS) to GH¢1,200.00 for Senior High Schools and GH¢1,600.00 for freshmen at public universities, depending on the course of study.

Mrs Judith S. Sawyerr, Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the NPCT, noted that, while many capable Ghanaian students could be forced to abandon their education because of lack of support, the NPCT can only support a fraction of qualified, needy students in the community, adding that, “As our income grows, we will definitely reach out to more of them.”

She reminded beneficiaries of their obligations, not only to themselves, but also to their parents, teachers and donors by ensuring that they succeed at school.

“This can only be done through hard work, discipline and focus, there is no shortcut to academic success. As you are aware, many needy students have been left out due to lack of funds, you must therefore count yourselves lucky and rise to the task”, she said.

Mrs Sawyerr, however, cautioned them of the possibility of losing the scholarships should they fail to fulfil their side of the bargain, as they would then no longer merit the scarce resources available.

On the role of parents in their children’s academic and achievement, Mrs Sawyerr advised parents to build a close and trusting relationship with their children as that would mould them into better leaders.

“Building a close and trusting relationship with your children, will help them to develop into mature and independent adults”, she said.

The awards ceremony, held in Accra, was witnessed by teachers, students and parents of the beneficiaries as well as some representatives of Trustees of NPCT and other core partners, like the HFC Bank and Ecobank.

The NPCT is a registered, non-profit, charitable organization that seeks to enhance the welfare of children in Ghana. It was founded in 2001 and is run by a Board of Trustees.

Since its establishment, the Trust has concentrated its programmes on scholarships for bright but needy children in the Greater Accra Metropolis, and to date, it has awarded more than 600 scholarships, costing about $200,000 which covers students at public junior and senior high schools, as well as public universities in the country.