Nabdam MP gets GES praise after donating GHC70k for BECE candidates, needy tertiary students

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has lauded the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nabdam, Dr Mark Kurt Nawaane, after he donated Gh¢10,250 for the GES to organise mock examinations for the candidates registered in his constituency for the upcoming Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

The lawmaker also has set aside Gh¢60,000 to assist needy tertiary students from his constituency. Whilst presenting a cheque for the mock examinations to the Nabdam District Education Directorate, the MP also handed out 800 sets of mathematical instruments and 800 exercise books to the candidates to boost up their spirits ahead of the BECE which is scheduled to start on June 10 and end on June 14, this year.

“Since 2015 when I became a parliamentary candidate, I was then not an MP, I have as a ritual every year assisted the directorate. In 2016, I gave them maths sets and donated an amount of money to assist them with their mock. I was then not an MP. And that ritual has continued. In 2017, I did it. In 2018, I was here to do the same thing. And I’m here to once again present to you a cheque for your mock, an amount of Gh¢10,250, to assist the directorate organise the mock,” said Dr Nawaane at Kongo as he addressed a crowd of BECE candidates, school authorities and GES directorate staff in the district.

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) registered 22,002 candidates in the Upper East region, comprising 10, 703 boys and 11,299 girls for the 2019 BECE. Some 741 candidates, made up of 343 boys and 398 girls, are expected to take the examination In the Nabdam District.

“Our level of development in Nabdam requires that our students get certain services free of charge. Then, we are donating 800 maths sets to the final-year students of the BECE. You know they will use these things in the exams hall. So, it is better for them to get it some weeks before the time, use it to practise during the mocks and also use it in the final exam,” added the MP.

“MP is a Pillar for Education Drive”— GES

Whilst making praising remarks on the donations, the Ghana Education Service (GES) also commended the legislator for sponsoring 143 students from his constituency earlier in the year to take part in some two-month vacation classes organised for the gold-track second-cycle students by the Blessed Edmund Rice Remedial School in the Nabdam District.

The soft-spoken MP paid Gh¢120 for each of the students, covering both their registration and tuition fees. He gave each of the 143 students three exercise books for the vacation classes and also provided a fare-free bus to convey them from their various homes to the vacation classes centre, situated on the premises of the Presentation Brothers at Logre, and back to their homes throughout the two-month period. He is said to have pledged to do same for the green-track students from his constituency who currently are vacationing at home and attending classes organised by the same remedial institution.

“It has been a ritual on his part every year to come to support Ghana Education Service in the Nabdam District. The items he has donated serve as motivation for the candidates. He has always supported the Science, Technology, Mathematics and Innovation Education (STMIE) Camp at the district level and the regional level.

“We do appeal to him and he supports us when it comes to the district camp and the regional camp. When I took over as District Director of Education, the tyres of the official vehicle of the director were worn out. You move a little bit and you have a flat tyre. We appealed to him and he provided four brand-new tyres for the vehicle to be back on the road,” the Nabdam District Director of Education, Timothy Yuornuo, told Starr News in a telephone interview after the donation ceremony.

MP Shares his Secret with Students

Dr Nawaane was adjudged the best Science student in the Upper East region when he was in his final year at the Bawku Secondary School, now Bawku Senior High School, in 1985.

He shared with the uplifted-looking BECE candidates the secret of his success as a student three decades ago whilst making the donations.

“Last year, I quoted it. This year, I’m going to quote it again— ‘The heights that great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, toiled deep into the night’. So, if you want to be like our Madam standing here, if you want to be like the District Director of Education standing here, you want to be like your MP or your tutors who are here, you’ve got to toil deep into the night.



“You’ve got to work hard now. You’ve got five critical years and if you use the five critical years very well, you will not be a dropout in school. From now, your final year, just count five years, work very, very hard; definitely, something will come out for you which you can build on and move on in life,” advised the legislator.