Dr. Adutwum presenting certificate to one of the beneficiaries
Minister for Education who doubles as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bosomtwe, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has awarded scholarships to 61 engineering and medical students from his constituency for the 2022 academic year.
It brings to 91, the total number of students from his constituency who have received the MP’s scholarship to pursue engineering and medicine out of his target of 100 students within 10 years.
Last year, 30 students from the constituency were awarded scholarships to pursue various engineering courses at the University of Mines and Technology in Tarkwa in the Western Region.
At a brief send-off ceremony at Jachie in the Bosomtwe constituency last Saturday, Dr. Adutwum stressed the need for the country to embrace Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education for accelerated development.
He said for the country to catch up with the rest of the developed world, there was the need to increase the quota to 60:40 in favour of STEM education as against humanities instead of the current 40:60 for STEM.
He said STEM is holding the key to industrialisation and rapid development and should not be undermined.
“We should encourage our youth to take up courses on STEM to churn out the requisite creative thinkers to address the country’s development challenges,” he said.
Dr. Adutwum lauded President Akufo-Addo for the huge investment being made towards improving the teaching and learning of STEM at various levels of education in the country.
“Until the nation is able to increase its Gross Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (GTER) from the current 18.8 per cent to at least 40 per cent, it would be very difficult for the nation to develop rapidly,” he disclosed.
Dr. Adutwum advised the students to justify their selection for the scholarship package by studying assiduously to realise their goals in life, saying “you should remember that you have your destiny in your hands.”
The Bosomtwe District Chief Executive (DCE), Joseph Kwasi Assumin, lauded the minister for his contribution towards educational growth in the area.
The beneficiaries, made up of 53 engineering and eight medical students, have gained admissions to pursue medicine and engineering-related courses at various Ghanaian universities.
They include the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) as well as University for Development Studies (UDS).