President Akufo-Addo has appealed to Ghanaians to eschew all acts that divide the nation as well as tendencies that only retire our quest to move forward.

Addressing participants of the 2019 President’s Independence Day Awards ceremony held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC), the President said as the country prepares to celebrate sixty two (62) years of independence from the British Colonial Power on the theme; “Celebrating Peace and Unity”, the people of Ghana ought to “eschew all acts of divisiveness and self centered tendencies which will only retire our forward match”.

“We must have the pride to acknowledge that we are have made positive strides and we must also have humility to appreciate that we still have a long way to go. We must have the patience to accept that just as our fight for freedom and independence was not achieved in a day, so too National Prosperity will not come over night. In Peace and Unity, I am certain that we can build a new Ghanaian civilization which will attract the admiration of Africa and the World”.

President Akufo-Addo congratulated all the awardees and wished them God’s speed as the climb up the academic ladder in order to fulfill their future professional goals.

Education Minister

The Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, in his opening address congratulated the award recipients for their remarking achievement. He indicated that ongoing reforms in the education sector are going to continue to ensure that the country’s educational system becomes one of the best in Africa and the world at large.

“Under the visionary Leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, this government is pursuing several reforms in education in a bid to Improve learning outcomes in our schools to drive national development. These include the areas of Curricula Reforms, Teacher Training Reform, Technical and Vocational Training and Education, Improved Access, School Leadership and Accountability. I am profoundly grateful to the President from r the opportunity to be at the forefront driving these reforms through and I am confident that they shall inure to our collective benefit” the Education Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh said.

History of the Awards

The President’s Independence Day Awards, since its inception in1993, has been providing scholarships each year to 20 young brilliant students between the ages of 14 and 19 (male and female) from the sixteen regions of Ghana. The awardees are selected based on their exceptional academic performances in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) as well as other extra curricula activities. The objectives of the award is to to recognize and reward Academic Excellence, to promote and encourage inclusion of Students with additional educational needs and to reward exemplary conduct and good moral behavior.

Selection Criteria

Performance in the 2018 BECE. (Best public school student overall male and female in the 16 regions based on raw score obtained from WAEC) and Best student overall male and female with additional educational needs, that is, (Visual and Hearing impaired) at the two main criteria used for the 2019 selection.