Thirty-two Legon Students win prizes

Accra, May 14, GNA - Thirty two students of the University of Ghana were last night awarded prizes for their outstanding academic performance in various disciplines at a ceremony in Legon, near Accra. The awards, which were sponsored by a number of corporate bodies and Ghanaian Families, included bursaries, cash prizes and certificate and scholarships for some Graduated Class of 2003 and some continuing students nominated for excellent academic success.

Some of the awards included the Alumni Prize for Best Level 200 Student in Administration won by Mr Michael Amofah-Adjekum; Bentsi-Enchill Prize for best graduating students in Law, which went to Mr Dziedzorm Kwaku Kuenyehia while the British-American Tobacco Prize for Best Graduate in Science went to Mr Dodzi Kofi Attimu.

The cash prizes, which were not announced, would later be presented to the winners after proper identification.

Speaking at the ceremony, Professor Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere, Vice Chancellor of the University, said although the aim of the awards was to recognize the academic success of the students yet it was also to develop quality human resource capacity for the country to meet national and global challenges.

He said the University was currently considering the institution of four more prizes, two of these have been proposed by families for African Studies, Animal Science and History, and the other by an individual for Oceanography and Fisheries Science.

Professor Asenso-Okyere urged the award winners and the beneficiaries to remember their Alma Mata in the future by supporting academic work through instituting academic prizes.

He told the recipients: "We hope that Legon has succeeded in inculcating in you such important human values as hard work, commitment, tenacity and integrity, which you need in your life."

Professor Frederick T. Sai, Presidential Advisor on HIV/AIDS and one of the Sponsors, called on well meaning Ghanaians to make a conscious effort of supporting tertiary education.

He said the time had come when Ghanaians must contribute a little to the development of the country rather than relying on the Government to do everything.

Professor Sai also called for opportunities to be created for female students, especially in the science related disciplines to encourage more of them to enter those fields.