600 students benefit from exchange programme …in six regions

600 students have been selected from about 20 Senior High schools (SHS) in six regions, under the Ghana National Exchange Programme School (GNEPS), to embark on one month schools exchange programme.

The beneficiary regions are Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central, Volta, Eastern and the Western.

The month-long programme, which started Friday last week, would end next month.

The programme is designed to focus on areas aimed at developing a holistic youth to suit modern-day and future challenges.

Mr. Kwabla Asomaning, Country Director of Country Awards Council, announced this at the opening of the 3rd batch of the SHS division of the GNEPS at the Assembly Hall of the Accra Academy Senior High School in Accra recently.

He noted that these holistic development intervention tools were academic advancement, effective leadership, healthy lifestyle living (HIV/AID prevention), good cultural practices, and promotion of tourism, among others.

Mr. Asomaning added that the programme would also help promote sports for national development, and appealed to the beneficiary students to be good ambassadors of their institutions.

The Executive Director of GNEPS, Mr. Cecil Nii Ododai Wintum, disclosed that his outfit was working to extend the exchange programme to other regions of the country.

According to him, “We hope the GNEPS will grow to become a big programme that the government will adopt.”

In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Education, Mr. Alex Tetteh-Enyoh, said the ministry was taking a keen interest in the programme, to enable it achieve its objectives.

He advised the students to make good use of the exchange programme, and shun habits that would counteract its purpose.

The Headmaster of Accra Academy, Mr. Samuel Ofori Agyei, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiary schools, called on GNEPS to extend the programme to other parts of the country.

He urged the students to mingle with other students from different parts of the country, in order to learn new ideas and cultures in those areas.

“If we want to remain as a united country, then an exchange programme of this nature must be encouraged,” Mr. Agyei stressed.

He therefore called on the government to factor the programme into the country's education calendar.

In his remarks, the National Coordinator of the National Youth Council (NYC), Mr. Sekou Nkrumah, urged the youth to strive to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country, irrespective of their tribe, religion, sex and location.

Mr. Nkrumah added his voice to the call on students to respect their teachers, parents, and adults in society, and urged them to desist from following bad groups.

“You need to translate what you learned into action. Be careful the way you dress. Because it speaks about you,” the National Youth Coordinator advised.

The Programme Manager of the Regenerative Health Programme, Mr. Kofi Adusei, advised the students to desist from taking alcohol and hard drugs like cocaine and marijuana.

He used the occasion to pay glowing tribute to the late former Minister of Health, Major Courage Quashigah (Rtd), for introducing the programme.