The Royal Bank (TRB) Limited-Ghana, has since its establishment three years ago, provided training and employment to more than 200 fresh graduates from the country’s universities, to help create employment and bridge the widening gap between the academia and corporate world.

Mr. Robert Kow Bentil, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Bank disclosed at this year’s edition of the excellence award instituted by the TRB in partnership with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CoHSS) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), three years ago.

A total of 52 students final year students of the various faculties in the College, swept awards for outstanding performance during an impressive ceremony which drew a huge crowd of students and their parents, lecturers and the University authorities.

The CEO said the need to span what he termed as the “textbook- Fieldwork” gap, has stemmed from the bank’s conviction that it was the only way to fully harness the potential of the graduating students, some even coming out with first class honours but enter the corporate world practically unprepared and uncertain about the world of work.

Mr Bentil underscored the need for other corporate institutions to open their doors to students for internship Programmes to enable them understudy the processes and systems before they finally graduate whilst on the other hand urging the students to see and seize such opportunities as essential training grounds and not money-making avenues.

He told the award winners whose undisclosed cash awards were deposited in their respective bank accounts at TRB, that the gesture was aimed at rewarding excellence and to spur those other students who could not make it to continue working hard to win next year.

The CEO who urged the students to believe in themselves said “At the Royal bank, we believe in hard work and getting rewarded for excellence, and this was manifested in the fact that during just the second year of our operations, we were adjudged the best growing bank.”

“The bank replicated this achievement at the 14th banking awards where we hauled five remarkable best bank awards in Customer care, Advisory Services, Bank growth, household financing and Long Term Financing” he added.

A special awards were given to some distinguished lectures at the faculties, whiles Professor William Otoo Ellis, the Vice chancellor of the University, who also chaired the ceremony, received an award.

The overall best student of the college award went to Benjamin Kojo Agyare, who also won the best student in accounting.

This year’s awards had a unique feature when all the highest awards in the different categories of law-private law, commercial law and public law, all went to women.

Miss Amngelina Bonnah, won the private law award with Anita Osei and Henrietta Wontaga winning the commercial and public law respectively.