Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the first Ghanaian female vice-chancellor has received the winners of the National Core Subjects Quiz in her Cantonment in Accra on Monday.

The winners Miss Adu Grace Enyonam, Miss Adoli Beatrice Fafali and Miss. Amoh Agyenkwah Hannah from Ayikuma Methodist Basic School in the Shai-Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region were accompanied by the Headmistress Ms. Esther Addi, and the Assistant Headmaster Nutsuakor Foster Asempa.

Receiving the pupils and their teachers, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang who was the running mate for former President John Mahama in the 2020 presidential elections said she was excited to hear of the achievements of the young girls and expressed her desire to see many more young Ghanaians as achievers.

She said the three girls coming from a very deprived public basic have proven that attainment of greater heights is not the preserve nor the monopoly of the so-called the privileged schools, and urged Ghanaians to take active interest in how “we can collective enable our public basic schools claim their fading glory”.

According to Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, when the appropriate interventions are activated, Ghana’s public schools most of which have professionally trained educators as teachers could become the institutions of choice for parents and their awards.

She bemoaned the phenomenon where parents are compelled to take their children to private schools due to poor supervision and lack of adequate support for public basic schools and indicated that the next administration of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will return the public basic schools to their lost place of pride and honour.

By successfully winning the quiz this year, young girls have made, Ayikuma Methodist Basic School the first public basic School to win the National Core Subjects Quiz championship since its inception in 2017.

The Headmistress of the school used the occasion to appeal for support from the government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other philanthropic organizations to support the school with computers and other learning materials. In her view, the ability of her school to win the competition back-to-back is yet another demonstration that given the required resources, her school will perform better than it is currently doing and outshine most schools in Ghana.

She also used the occasion to call for support in the construction of a kindergarten black to support early childhood education for parents in Ayikuma and its environs.

In congratulating the girls and the school, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang presented an undisclosed amount of cash to the school and appealed to the young girls to shun acts that will lead them into teenage pregnancy, admonishing that “take time to grow your body to the level where it can excellently grow another body within, ensure you have the necessary resources to take care of yourself and others before making decisions about child-bearing. Do not rush yourself into having a child or be deceived by someone into doing what is immoral."

On their part, the young girls said they derive significant inspiration from the personal and professional achievements of Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, expressed deep gratitude to her for making time to meet with them at short notice, and also for her words of advice and encouragement.

Also present at the meeting were Albert Tetteh Amafu Founder and CEO National Core Subjects Quiz, Prof. Michael Kpessa-Whyte, an educationist from the District, Mr. Isaac Kofi Kportsu, Jone Ayertey, Lydia C. Lartey, Nana Eric Mantey, and Daniel Akpeh who are Chairman, Secretary, Women Organizer, Deputy Youth Organizer, and Executive Member respectively of the NDC in the Shai-Osudoku Constituency.