COCOBOD to use Scholarship money to build basic schools
After awarding over 10,000 scholarships, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has decided to repurpose funds from its Scholarship Scheme to build new model primary schools in underserved cocoa-growing areas to improve access to quality basic education.
This repurposing has become necessary due to the introduction of Free Senior High School (Free SHS) education, which replaces the role the scheme was playing.
Consequently, the government has inaugurated the COCOBOD Education Trust to build modern infrastructure at the basic level of schools in deprived cocoa-growing communities.
The initiative, which replaces the Cocoa Scholarship Scheme, aims to bridge the educational and infrastructural gap between children in rural areas and their counterparts in urban areas.
It also supports efforts to facilitate access to basic quality education delivery in cocoa-growing areas of the country.
Mr. Peter Mac Manu, Chairman of COCOBOD, announced this at the inauguration of a five-member COCOBOD Education Trust in Accra.
The members of the Trust took the oaths of office and secrecy, administered by Mr. Manu.
He said the decision to set up the Trust resulted from a consensus among stakeholders, including Members of Parliament, the Council of State, the Ghana Education Service, and the Cocoa Farmer Associations.
Mr. Manu said the Scheme in past years had been a beacon of hope for young Ghanaians, providing access to secondary school education.
In September 2017, under the leadership of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the government of Ghana started the Free Senior High School Programme, which provided over one million students with access to education.
The Scheme, Mr. Manu stated, played a key role in the country’s educational development, awarding 10,000 scholarships to various beneficiaries across the country’s senior schools.
“The Trust is a testament to our unwavering commitment to the well-being and prosperity of our cocoa farmers and their children,” he said.
He emphasized that investing in the country’s educational foundations would create a lasting impact that would benefit generations, urging all stakeholders to rally behind the new initiative with enthusiasm and dedication.
Mr. Ray Ankrah, the Deputy Chief Executive of COCOBOD in charge of Finance and Administration, said the Trust would help develop and build the manpower needs of children in deprived cocoa areas.
Dr. Ernest Kwamina Addison, the Chairman of the Trust, thanked the government for the confidence reposed in them and pledged to discharge their mandate to the best of their abilities.
Dr. Addison, also the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, said the foundation of education was an important pillar of progress and promised to strive to make a lasting impact to improve the lives of children in the cocoa-growing areas.
The newly inaugurated COCOBOD Education Trust members are Dr. Ernest Kwamina Addison; Dr. Eric Nkansah, Director-General of the Ghana Education Service; Mr. Bismarck Fuachie, 2022 National Best Cocoa Farmer; Dr. Emmanuel A. Opoku, Deputy Chief Executive in Charge of Operations at COCOBOD; and Mr. Francis Opoku, Director, Legal and Solicitor Secretary, COCOBOD.
