Accra, Oct 26, GNA - The Archbishop Andoh Education Endowment Fund (AAEEF) has awarded bursaries and scholarships valued at GH¢15,000 to 6= 3 students selected from Catholic schools in the Metropolitan Archdiocese o= f Accra for the 2009/2010 academic. The Fund was established in 1999 to support needy but brilliant students in the Archdiocese from Basic to Tertiary level including Techni= cal and Vocational education.

This was contained in a statement issued in Accra on Monday by the Fund. The statement said Mrs. Elizabeth Akpalu, a Gender Advocate who chai= red the disbursement at a ceremony at Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church in Accra at the weekend, said the Fund emphasized the value of a good educat= ion for today's youth because they are society's best heritage.

She said even though education had been described as a weapon agains= t poverty in society and the world at large, there were many innocent child= ren who through no faults of theirs had no access to education. "As Catholics and Christians we cannot allow this situation to conti= nue without intervention because we would have failed in our Christian duty i= f we sat unconcerned," she said. Mrs Akpalu commended the Most Rev Dominic Andoh, Archbishop Emeritus= of Accra, for bringing hope to the needy but brilliant children who but for this facility would have prematurely terminate their education to face an=

uncertain future. Mrs. Elizabeth J. Villars, a former President of the Association of Ghana Industries who was the Guest Speaker, urged the beneficiaries to le= arn hard, emulate examples of successful personalities in society and leave legacies as an example to others.

She advised them to maintain good behaviour to justify the sacrifice= s being made by donors and benefactors. The Very Rev. Fr. Francis Adoboli, Vicar General of the Accra Archdiocese and Chairman of the Board of Trustee of the AAEEF, called on Catholics and philanthropists to help sustain the Fund through their generous support. He said the needs of the children should encourage members of the church to support the Fund to enable it to prevent school dropouts. Very Rev. Father Adoboli urged parishes to establish education funds=

for their parishioners as stated in the Accra Archdiocesan Acts of the Second Synod. "Parishes should be encouraged to put in place financial plans to he= lp needy but brilliant students as is done on the Archdiocesan level through=

the Archbishop Andoh Endowment Fund," Fr. Adoboli said.