Six candidates and schools were on Friday honoured as part of the spectacular celebrations of the 63rd Independence Day anniversary in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region.

The awards were presented to best candidates and schools at the 2019 BECE in various categories.

It was double honour for Miss Kassim Firdaus of the Ghanata Senior High School who picked awards as best performed WASSCE Girl and overall Best WASSCE Student 2018/2019 academic year after she scored 7 ‘As’ and 1 ‘B’.

Other winners were best performed WASSCE Girl, Lovia Donkor, best performed BECE Candidate 2019, Dotse Daniel Yobo, Odumse DA Basic School for the most improved BECE School 2019 and the Ayikuma Methodist basic school winning the best performed BECE School 2019.

The unique variety of various schools in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region was on full exhibition at the Osuwem Roman Catholic D/A School as a parade of security agencies and schools was mounted to climax the nation’s 63rd independence anniversary celebration.

For the first time, the celebration of the event was held outside the district capital, Dodowa.

The celebration offered the schools the opportunity to showcase their marching skills in a spectacular manner as it held the teeming crowd spellbound with various marching skills.

The spectacle which excited the dignitaries and the general public, left them in awe as they applauded in admiration.

“Consolidating our Gains”, was the theme for the anniversary, marking more than six decades of self-rule by Ghana, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence.

840 students and pupils from 21 Public & Private Basic and SHS Schools and Sixty Three 63 teachers drawn from schools in and around Osuwem participated in the celebrations.

Also in attendance were the Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Police Service, National Ambulance Service, National Disaster Management Organization, Ghana Health Service personnel and Social Organizations in the district.

District Chief Executive for Shai Osudoku in his speech at the event tasked Ghanaians to explore innovative ways to break the puzzle of poverty even though natural and human resource abound in the country.

According to him, poverty in the midst of the availability of such resources could not be countenanced.

“After 63 years of independence, it is important that we as a people, begin to think outside the box and break the paradox of poverty in the midst of abundance of natural and human resources,” said the DCE adding that the availability of land, rich mineral deposits human capital must be utilized in the development of the country.

Mr. Akuffo therefore called on the citizenry to affirm its commitment to nation building with a sense of patriotism by eschewing negative tendencies that tend to erode the gains of the nation’s hard won independence.

He enumerated a number of interventions initiated by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo administration including the Planting for Food and Jobs, Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), the Free Senior High School policy, the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Program (IPEP), Nation Builders Corps (NaBCO), One District One Factory, Ghana school feeding program,etc. all in an attempt to restore the lost hope of Ghanaians and aimed at bringing the economy of the country back to its former days.

Chairman for the occasion and Vice Chancellor of Valley View University, Professor Daniel Kwame Bediako, tasked schools not to put premium on preparation of children for exams but rather on the moulding of their character to ensure their maximum development.

“Schools must focus on character building rather than exam preparation,” he said. “Education that does not aim at character development is mere schooling, so schools must ensure the maximum development of the individual learner, preparing him/her for a life of service to the family, the local community, and society at large.”

Professor Daniel Kwame Bediako also called on the citizenry including parents, schools, religious bodies, government, to play their part to contribute their quota to nation building as they all have their part to play.

The chairman lauded President Akuffo Addo’s 8-point agenda as part of the strategies to move “Ghana Beyond Aid”, adding that true independence cannot be achieved if the country remained dependent on foreign aid.

On her part, the Shai Osudoku District Education Director, Mrs. Elizabeth Awunoor said the education Directorate, will continue to promote the intellectual development of children in the Shai Osudoku District by providing quality education as it strives to instill the spirit of patriotism in them.

“We will continue to promote the intellectual development of the children in the Shai Osudoku District by providing quality education,” said Mrs. Awunoor. “We shall continue to instill the spirit of patriotism, self-reliance and high morals in them so that we can consolidate our gains in the educational sector.”

Cadet contingents from Osudoku Senior High Technical School and Ghanata Senior High School were in attendance.

Asutuare R/C Basic ‘1’ emerged the best school in the schools’ parade with Asutuare R/C Basic ‘2’ and Osuwem R/C taking the 1st Runner Up and 2nd Runner Up respectively.

Other personalities present included, traditional leaders, the Member of Parliament, the Assembly Members, the Divisional Police Commander, the District Coordinating Director, Heads of Departments, and hundreds of School Children and members of the general public.