Accra, Feb. 17, GNA- Students in the country have been urged to take their studies seriously to enable them pass their examinations, to justify huge investments being made in their education by individuals, organisations and government.

Nii Amasah Namoale, Member of Parliament (MP) for La Dadekotopon, who gave the advice, expressed worry that some students indulged in drug abuse, alcoholism, sexual promiscuity and other social vices thereby affecting academic work.

The MP was speaking at the launch of this year's Islamic Quiz Competition for senior secondary schools in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Central regions, in Accra on Saturday.

Seventy schools from the regions would be expected to take part in the contest, which would be organised under the theme 'Ghana at 50, the essence of religious knowledge in nation-building.' He also asked students to be law-abiding and obedient and expressed the hope that in 20 years time, they would be in responsible positions.

Mr Seth Owusu Ibrahim, President of the Ghana Muslim Academy, organizers of the competition, appealed to Muslim students to abide by the true teachings of Islam which espouse hard work, love, peace and unity.

He appealed to religious bodies to come together and work towards the socio-economic development of the country.

Brother Issah Abubakar, Chairman of the Education Committee of the Academy, urged school heads to support and encourage Muslim students to participate in various quiz competitions to enable them to improve upon their academic standards.

In the first Greater Accra Regional preliminary competition, held after the launch, Ghana Lebanon Islamic Secondary School came first with 51 points, Accra Technical Training Centre was second with 25 points and Amasam Secondary took the third position with 22 points while Labone Secondary was fourth with 18 points.