- “I want to study economics in the university to become an economist like the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, even I wish to aspire to become more than that.”
Thomas Amoani, the student from Adeiso Senior High School who obtained grade A1 in all his subjects in the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), is aspiring to become an economist like Ghana’s vice-president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
The 18-year-old brilliant but needy student was speaking to the host of The Asaase Breakfast Show, Kojo Mensah, on Wednesday (25 November), following a directive from the president, Nana Akufo-Addo, to the Scholarship Secretariat to offer Amoan a full scholarship after his story went viral on social media.
“I want to study economics in the university to become an economist like the vice-president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, even I wish to aspire to become more than that,” Amoani said.
Currently, the senior high graduate is taking up menial jobs such as weeding and harvesting oranges to earn a little income to support himself and the family.
He had aggregate 26 in completing junior high school but had the good luck of benefiting from the government’s flagship Free Senior High School programme.
Amoani said that motivation by a former teacher had contributed immensely to his success. He also attributed his accomplishment to maintaining a balance between hard work and faith in God to make his dream a reality.
More good news to come
He recounted how his mother at one point asked him to stop schooling because of financial constraints at home but he persevered.
Now, after his story went viral, the 18-year-old has had an offer from the vice-chancellor of Ashesi University to fund his further studies.
Meanwhile, the Registrar of the Scholarships Secretariat, Kingsley Agyemang, who also spoke on The Asaase Breakfast Show, said staff from the secretariat will meet Amoani on Friday to kick start the process towards rolling out the president’s full scholarship.
He explained that this is not the first time President Akufo-Addo has offered such a scholarship to a brilliant student facing financial difficulties.
“We again seize this opportunity to inform our cherished WASSCE graduates to prepare themselves for a big announcement from the secretariat on Tuesday 1 December 2020,” Agyemang said in an earlier statement.
“The retooled Ghana Scholarships Secretariat is now strategically positioned to effectively deliver on its mandate of awarding scholarships to Ghanaians for tertiary education.”
Fred Dzakpata
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UPDATE: This story was amended on 28 November to correct the name of the high-achieving student in question: Thomas Amoani, and not Amoaning.
