President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has honoured about 208 young individuals at the 2023 Head of State Awards (HoSA) ceremony held at the Banquet Hall of the Jubilee House in Accra.
All 280 awardees aged between 14 and 24 years old successfully completed a number of prescribed activities under the Head of State Award-Ghana Scheme with 157 representing 59.4per cent being females whiles 114 representing 41.6 per cent were males.
The scheme is a youth development programme that seeks to challenge young people through a balanced- programme of voluntary activities.
As a non-competitive programme, the scheme also helps unearth the potential of young people in diverse disciplines and allows their achievements to be recognised internationally.
Participants for this year’s event who were presented with the gold awards were mainly drawn from the Senior High School level including Tema International School, Wesley Girls SHS, and Nkawie SHS, with each of them completing various tasks for evaluation.
In his address, President Akufo-Addo who is also the chief patron of the scheme, congratulated the organisers of the scheme and called for it to be sustained.
“It is clear from what you have seen here that the award scheme is an excellent idea and we have to congratulate initiators of the idea and we have to make sure that it continues to work,” he added.
He also pledged his commitment to seeing through the completion of office secretariat for the scheme in Ghana, stressing that “It will be the first in the world so we have every reason for us to make sure it is completed and that is the building that is going to house the secretariat.”
President Akufo-Addo noted that when completed, it would be the first of its kind anywhere in the world since the award scheme did not have any secretariat anywhere in the world, adding that “When we finish this one in Ghana, it will be the first of its kind in the world. So you have my personal commitment, I am going to help finish this building.”
On his part, the Board Chairman of HoSA, Mr Harry Sintim-Aboagye, explained that the award scheme was a “structured, non-formal education, youth development programme, empowering all individuals to explore their full potential and discover their true purpose, passion, and place in the world, irrespective of their location or circumstances.”
He said the award scheme encouraged young people to engage in a variety of activities, fostering versatility and a positive life outlook.
Mr Sintim-Aboagye said the HoSA Award Programme was a positive challenge for both corporate and young people.
HoSA is the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award in Ghana and a member of the International Award Foundation which is the world’s leading youth achievement award that brings together practical experiences to create committed global citizens through the provision of a balanced programme that challenges and equips young people with positive life skills.
It provides a leisure time activities and a rewarding agenda that fills the gap left by formal tuition and equips young people with life skills, builds their confidence and engages them with their communities to make a difference to themselves and the world at large.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
