Ahantaman SHS wins leadership award for girls

Ahantaman Girls Senior High School (SHS) has been adjudged champions of the Osei-Kusi Foundation’s (OKF) maiden edition of Leadership Award Scheme for girls.

This followed a competition among the school and two others, the St Roses Senior High School and St Monica’s Senior High School of summarising OKF’s ‘Young Leader’s Handbook’ and convincing the judges with their proposal.

The decision was arrived at by a panel of judges made up of 15 heads of SHSs, with the champions taking away GH¢5,000.00 and motivational books from OKF.

St Monica’s Senior High School automatically placed third because of their inability to make their presentation because of technical hitches. They received educational materials from OKF, just like every participant.

The OKF invests in young people in schools, prisons and rural areas through a scholarship scheme for the blind and deaf, leadership, coaching and mentoring programmes, as well as volunteerism and awards schemes.

Schools’ involvement

“The schools involved were great schools so we knew we were in for a strong competition but we also knew that with hard work and determination, we could make it,” Ms Yaa Sarpomaa Sarpong, the team leader of Ahantaman SHS, remarked about their success.

According to her, many were the problems identified in the school but they used the prize they received to renovate the school’s washroom by changing toilet bowls and roofing sheets because that topped their lists of problems, since the facility had not received any attention, many years after it was built.

“Indeed, it was necessary to choose that project because it affected teaching and learning,” she added and expressed optimism that the money presented to them would be enough to complete the renovation since the Student Representative Council (SRC) had already begun work on the same project.

Ms Sarpomaa applauded the efforts of OKF for putting together what she described as “such leadership award scheme for girls,” adding that it will go a long way to develop the leadership skills of young girls while helping solve problems in various schools.

Congratulations

Commenting on the award, the Headmistress of Wesley Girls Senior High School, who is also the President of the Forum of Heads of Girls Senior High Schools (FOHGSHS), Mrs Betty Djokoto, congratulated Ahantaman Girls and praised OKF for the initiative and its partnership with the FOHGSHS to develop the leadership skills of young girls.

The Executive President of the organisation, Dr Kofi Osei-Kusi, indicated that the goal of the award was to equip girls in Ghana with essential leadership competencies such as problem-solving skills, innovation and self-confidence.

He noted that it would also encourage them to participate in decision-making at all levels—school, community and the nation at large.

He was optimistic that the project for the girls would impact positively on the school or community in which the selected project would be implemented and also drive Ghana towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal 3, which is to promote gender equality and empower women.

In the long term, OKF and FOHGSHS seek to make the awards scheme an annual event and use it as a platform to provide leadership development, encourage selflessness and innovation among students and the youth at large, Dr Osei-Kusi hinted.