Systemic failure led to directive for WASSCE student – Horace Ankrah

Former Deputy Ghana Ambassador to China Horace Ankrah has pointed to systemic failure for the directive from the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to the Scholarship Secretariat for a student from the Adeiso Senior High School in the Eastern Region to be given a full scholarship.

The student, Thomas Amoaning, obtained grade A1 in all eight subjects in the 2020 West African Senior Schools Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Ambassador Horace Ankrah said if the systems were working under the current government, the president should not have given the directives because the system would have notified the WASSCE graduate and come to his aid.

Thomas Amoaning, a WASSCE graduate who lives in Asuaba near Adeiso, offered General Arts and obtained excellent grades of A1 in Social Studies, English Language, Mathematics (Core), Integrated Science, Economics, Geography, Government and Mathematics (Elective).

Master Amoaning in the interview narrated how he walked from Asuaba to Adeiso, a distance of about 6-kilometres on a daily basis to attend school.

His mother also narrated how her son, who is her second born, would not have been able to go to SHS but for the Free SHS policy.

His dream is to attend the University of Ghana to read Economics but without the viral video which caught the attention of President Akufo-Addo, this would have been in jeopardy.

Moments after this, the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat in a press statement issued Tuesday, November 24 by the Registrar, Kingsley Agyemang said, “H.E. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has taken notice of a social media video reporting the excellent results of Thomas Amoani who lives in Asuaba near Adeiso and attended Adeiso SHS”.

The statement said “the student reportedly scored 8 ‘A’s in the recently released WASSCE results.

It said “as a normal practice and taking into consideration the socio-geographical background of the student, President Akufo-Addo has expressly directed the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat to grant a full scholarship award to the student for his tertiary studies”.

It added that “the Scholarship Secretariat has already established contact with the student and parent and will on Friday, November 27, 2020 pay a visit to the family to discuss their needs in detail”.

Reacting to the development on Onua FM’s Ghana Dadwene hosted by Nana Yaw Opare, Mr. Ankrah explained that “if the system is working, the President would not have noticed this child but the system would have taken care of him”.

He argued that “the president should not have ordered for him to be given a scholarship but the system is not working that is why it took the social media for him [student] to be noticed”.