Traditional leaders present at the programme
Golden Star Wassa Limited (GSWL), a gold mining company, has through its development foundation, offered scholarship to 137 brilliant but financially disadvantaged students from the Wassa area in the Western Region for the 2022/2023 academic year.
The company has disbursed an amount of GH¢460,000 to support the students.
Out of the 137 beneficiaries, 100 are Senior High School (SHS) students while 37 are tertiary students.
At a ceremony to present the cheque to the beneficiaries, the Managing Director of Golden Star Wassa Limited, Mr. Shaddrack Sowah said, “The initiative was commenced in 2007 until the introduction of the Free SHS in 2017.”
He explained that the scholarship scheme has been reinvented in consultation with the Community Mine Consultative Committee (CMCC) to include support for tertiary education.
According to him, “As a company, this is important to us. To be able to move with the times to ensure that our relationships with our host communities remain relevant.”
He noted that the company supports education in its host communities in diverse ways including, partnering with the district education office to donate educational materials to basic schools in host communities, to improve teaching and learning.
“The company also assist schools financially to facilitate extracurricular activities like excursions, field trips, sports activities, and other educational activities,” he indicated.
He continued, “Golden Star has adopted the Akyempim School ‘B’ as a model school. The 9-unit school block has already been renovated by Golden Star and the teachers receive housing and other allowances.”
“Currently, an ultra-modern 12-unit classroom is almost completed and will be handed over to the community very soon,” he disclosed.
He said the company, in collaboration with the German Development Corporation, has distributed about 7,500 sanitary pads to female pupils in all basic schools in Golden Star host communities.
The company used the occasion to inaugurate the Golden Star Development Foundation (GSDF) Scholarship and Bursary Unit to ensure sustainability and adherence to laid-out guidelines in the selection and future disbursement of the funds.
He revealed that the activities of the company’s foundation are funded through the sale of an ounce of gold produced by Golden Star Wassa Limited, 1 per cent of Golden Star Wassa Limited’s net pretax profit, contributions from third party contractors as well as yields from investments of GSDF.
“The foundation’s activities are detailed in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that Golden Star signed with its host communities in 2017.
“Its activities are also guided by a Board of Trustees, Members of the CMCC and Project Management Committee,” he added.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi