Empower youngsters to be innovators - Prof. Kaufmann to educational institutions

An associate Professor and founding Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Ghana, Professor Elsie Effah Kaufmann, has stressed the need to empower youngsters to become innovators who will create sustainable solutions to some of the developmental challenges the country faces.

She explained that the world was filled with not only possible opportunities but also a lot of complex challenges which demanded innovative solutions, hence the need to empower the youth to make the world a better place as well as change Africa’s trajectory.

Prof. Kaufmann was speaking at the graduation ceremony of the Alpha Beta Education Centres in Accra.

“Innovation is the process of coming out with new things through creative thinking, experimentation and risk taking. It involves finding solutions to new, existing or old problems,” she stated.

She, therefore, encouraged the graduands to look out for surprises as they transition from one stage to the other and let the experiences they acquired from their school give them an advantage to navigate a life of excellence.

Commendation

The Director of the school, Dr Naomi Adjepong, congratulated all the graduands on a good job done, noting that the JHS graduands would be the final cohort graduating from the school as it had transitioned to a fully fledged international school running the Cambridge curriculum.

“This year, we celebrate 36 years since the establishment of Alpha Beta Education Centres, a period over which we have been dedicated to raising global change leaders. Our school’s secondary department, the Alpha Beta Christian College (ABCC) celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, a testament to two decades of dedication, growth and excellence, for which we give God all the glory,” she said.

Dr Adjepong further urged the graduands to take hold of Ghana’s future, creating home-grown solutions for some of the most pressing challenges in Ghana and Africa as well as harnessing the knowledge, values and skills they had acquired at Alpha Beta. 

Graduation

Twenty-eight pupils graduated from class six while 12 junior high school students graduated from the school. Additionally, 17 students also completed from the ABCC.

They were presented with certificates while deserving students who excelled in various disciplines were awarded.

Twenty-five girls of the AME Zion Basic School who successfully completed a 10-week science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) champions programme were also celebrated.

Some teachers and parents were also awarded for their dedication, loyalty and hard work towards the school.