The Archbishop Andoh Education Endowment Fund has awarded bursaries and scholarships to 107 students selected from Catholic schools in the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Accra for the 2015/2016 academic year.
This year’s bursary amounted to GHC80,000.00, an improvement over last year’s support of GHC60,000.00.
The fund was established in 1999 to support needy but brilliant students in the Archdiocese from Basic to Tertiary level, including those in Technical and Vocational education.
The beneficiaries were selected from six Catholic deaneries in the greater Accra-Madina, Mamprobi, Osu, Kaneshie, Kpehe and Tema-Battor deanery.
The Very Rev. Fr. Francis Adoboli, Vicar General of the Accra Archdiocese and Chairman of the Board of Trustee of the Fund, called on Catholics and other humanitarian organisations to help sustain the Fund through their kind support.
He said the creation of the fund, initiated by the late Archbishop Dominic Kodwo Andoh of the Accra Archdiocese Catholic Church was aimed at assisting the educational needs of students in the Accra Catholic Archdiocese.
Very Rev Fr Adoboli encouraged the Catholic faithful to support the Fund to enable it to prevent school dropouts.
He commended Parishes for putting in place financial plans to help needy but brilliant students.
He noted that the board of trustees for the fund would work assiduously to monitor the progress of the students, as education was importance in today's democratic dispensation.
Mr Paul Krampah, Public Relations Officer, Ministry of Education, said government attached great importance to quality education because it is vital for the socio-economic development of the country.
He said successive governments had put in place interventions to ensure universal access to education, such as the introduction of the school feeding programme, provision of free exercise books and learning materials, as well as school uniforms.
Mr Krampah commended government for allocating 30 per cent of its budget to improve education, and urged the Catholic faithful to contribute towards the funds and also called for the establishment of parish committees to help support the fund.
He urged the beneficiaries to learn hard, emulate examples of successful personalities in society, and maintain good behaviour to justify the sacrifices being made by donors and benefactors.
