lion king

UBA Foundation Launches National Essay Competition in Ghana

September 26, 2014

United Bank for
Africa Plc, through its corporate Social Responsibility arm; UBA Foundation,
has launched a national essay competition for secondary schools in Ghana.

L-R: Deputy
Director of Secondary Education,
Republic of Ghana Mrs. Dorothy Glover; Director of Secondary
Education, Republic
of Ghana, Rev. Simon Asige; MD/CEO, UBA Foundation, Ijeoma Aso;
Deputy Minister of Education, Republic
of Ghana, Hon. Okudjeto Ablakwa; MD/CEO, UBA Ghana, Mrs. Abiola Bawuah; and DMD, UBA Ghana,
Mr. Usman Isiaka during the maiden launch of the ‘UBA Foundation
National Essay Competition in Ghana’

The national essay
competition, which has been holding in Nigeria in the last three years, is
aimed improving the reading, research, critical thinking and writing skills of Ghanaian
secondary school students. It is in line with the commitment of the UBA Group,
which has operations in 19 African countries, to develop Africa’s educational
sector.

The essay
competition, to be known as the ‘UBA National Essay Competition in Ghana’, has
commenced with calls for entries from eligible students. Entries began on Wednesday
September 24, 2014 and will close on October 31, 2014.

Student
participating in essay competition are expected to send in handwritten entries
on the topic ‘Is Social Media a safe
place to make friends?’ to the UBA office in Ghana. A panel of judges will
pick the best 12 entries in the competition that will be subjected further written
tests to determine the best three.

The announcement of
the commencement of the competition, which took place on Wednesday September
24, 2014, in Accra Ghana, witnessed the presence of students, top government
officials and individuals from the private sector during a press conference at
the UBA Ghana office.

Among the
dignitaries was, Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Education, Hon. Okudjeto Ablakwa,
who officially unveiled the maiden edition of the competition in Ghana.

The minister, who
was full of appreciation to UBA for launching the competition, described the
initiative as noble. He said the essay competition is coming at a time when a
lot of attention is being given to educational development in Ghana.

“This is a great
effort; the Ghana Education Service and WAEC will ensure a robust examination
team is assembled for this exercise. Our doors are always open to UBA” the
minister said.

Mrs. Abiola Bawuah,
MD/CEO, UBA Ghana, reiterated the importance of education; quoting the words of
Nelson Mandela she said “Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can
use to change the world.”

She assured that
UBA will continue to support the Ghana Education Board in promoting a healthy
educational development.

Also speaking
during the launch, Ms Ijeoma Aso, the MD/CEO of UBA Foundation, said the essay
competition will provide students in senior secondary schools in Ghana the
opportunity to win prizes in the form of educational grants to attend any
African University of their choice. She assured that the exercise will be
supervised by examiners confirmed by the Ghana Education Board.

“UBA is out to
promote child welfare through education’ Ijeoma said.

Ms. Aso explained
that the competition which is coming on the heels of the Foundation’s ‘Read
Africa’ initiative was conceived to promote creative thinking and the
development of intellect among Ghanaian students.

The Director of Secondary
Education, Ghana, Rev. Simon Asige; who was also at the event, assured UBA of
his ministry’s support, while committing to distribute the essay flyers and
posters personally.

As the CSR platform
for the UBA Group, UBA Foundation through her four areas of focus has and
continues to impact positively on the lives of Africans, particularly in the
various countries where the group has presence through a number of laudable
projects and initiatives.