'Shame on school heads who allowed this' - Manasseh condemns WASSCE car gifts

Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has weighed in on the growing trend of parents gifting cars to their children in senior high schools, describing it as a show-off culture that undermines values and discipline.

In a post titled "Gifting Children Cars in Schools", shared on his Facebook page on June 20, 2026, Awuni compared his experiences at Harvard University and the University of Nebraska with the displays of wealth increasingly seen in Ghanaian schools.

According to him, in elite institutions abroad, "modesty is a cherished virtue," and wealthy students do not flaunt their status.

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Awuni further noted that in Ghana, wealth is often celebrated without scrutiny of its source, creating unhealthy competition among young people.

“Not only do we celebrate ill-got wealth, but we also berate those from less privileged backgrounds. For this reason, the fierce competition to be rich, through fair or foul means, is sinking our nation,” he wrote.

While acknowledging that parents have the right to reward their children, he condemned the public presentation of such gifts on school premises.

“Those parents who drove the cars to their children’s schools for the presentation were there to show off. In our society, we show off with cars,” he said, adding that school authorities should have insisted that such presentations be done privately at home.

He also warned that such displays could negatively influence other students.

“Not every young girl witnessing the vanity fair will be disciplined enough to reject a fraudulent boy with a vehicle when the society that breeds her teaches her that showiness is what matters,” he cautioned.

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Linking the trend to broader social challenges, Awuni recalled the Kasoa incident in which teenagers killed a child for money rituals.

“Is there any wonder that teenagers are killing children for money rituals, as we saw in Kasoa a few years ago?” he asked.

He concluded with a strong rebuke of school authorities, stating: “Shame on the school heads who allowed this to happen. And shame on those who think speaking up against such behaviour amounts to envy.”

See the post below:

VKB/MA

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