KNUST student from less endowed SHS becomes valedictorian

A student from less endowed second-cycle institution has earned a place as a valedictorian.

Joel Ansah, formerly of Three Town Senior High School at Denu in the Volta Region, was adjudged the best graduating student in Humanities at the 53^rd graduation.

The 23-year-old BA Sociology student had a Cumulative Weighted Average of 80.85. 

The Less-endowed admission scheme was introduced in 2003 when late Prof. Kwesi Andam was Vice-Chancellor.

It was meant to ensure balanced opportunity for students in rural schools with their counterparts of high-class schools.

Joel, a native of Aflao, is among beneficiaries of the scheme for the 2014/2015 academic year. He had already earned a place at KNUST Vice-Chancellor’s List and  MasterCard Foundation Scholarship.

He told Luv FM’s Kwasi Debrah, the policy has been a lifeline for people like him.  He, however, appealed for financial assistance for future beneficiaries.

“About 50 percent of us are not able to make it to school because they can’t pay the fees, so it’ll be good if the university authorities lobby for more scholarships for these students,” he observed.

Some 248 out of 1,608 graduates earned First Class representing 18 percent, a four percent improvement over last year.

Meanwhile, Provost of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Prof Imoro Braimah says the college has introduced the Executive law programmes in law and development, healthcare law and ethics and legal practice and administration.

Former Managing Director of Bulk Oil and Storage and Transport, Kwame Awuah- Darko, acknowledged, government invests a lot in the Judiciary.

He, however, laments the poor cannot access justice due to high fees.

“The country spends 1.5 [billion] to 2 billion cedis a year on our judicial administrative services but when you take the Ghana Bar Association scale of fees, you’ll realise 99 percent of Ghanaians cannot access legal services. So tax payers including cocoa farmers, market women, etc contribute to the administration of Justice but cannot access it,” he observed.

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