By Iddi Yire
Accra, Oct 09, GNA – Madam Harriet Thompson, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, has urged prospective students who seek the United Kingdom (UK) visas to apply on-time.
She said the visa approval rates for prospective Ghanaian students seeking the UK visas was extremely high; stating that it was over 90 per cent.
She noted that almost everybody who applied for a student’s visa at the UK High Commission got it granted.
Madam Thompson made these remarks in Accra when she opened the UK Boarding Schools Exhibition in Accra.
The event was organised by experienced educational consultant, Mark Brooks Education, who has been advising families in West Africa for 14 years.
The exhibition was supported by the British High Commission and in association with the UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT).
It brought together a delegation of a dozen principals and senior leaders from the UK to meet with parents, students, government ministers and business leaders to discuss the opportunities offered by a British boarding education.
Madam Thompson advised interested Ghanaian parents seeking for admissions for their wards to make the UK their preferred destination.
She said it was a great opportunity to see so many British Boarding Schools’ representatives, some of the really top-class schools from the UK at the Accra exhibition.
“They are here because the UK offers a world class education. And I know from being here how important education is to the Ghanaian families, they know how important that is for the future of their children,” the High Commissioner said.
She urged interested Ghanaian parents to contact representatives of the UK Boarding Schools to explore the opportunities available for their wards and what would be best for them.
She reiterated that many Ghanaians were products of British educational institutions, and that a lot of Ghanaians regard the UK as their second home.
Mr Mark Brooks, one of the organisers of the UK Boarding Schools Exhibition, said his organisation had been organising the Exhibition in Accra over the last five years
He said as an educational consultant, he had been becoming to West Africa over the last 11 years, which was fantastic.
He said the reason they kept coming to Ghana was that Ghanaians placed priorities on the education of their children.
Touching on the benefits of the British Boarding Schools, Mr Brooks mentioned quality education, international environment, fantastic pastoral care and fantastic rank of boarding schools and universities in the UK.
Mr Anastas Anderson, a prospective parent, said he was at the exhibition to seek admissions for his two boys and that he wants them to have a broader view of the world.
The top UK Boarding Schools visiting Ghana include a range of different types of establishments from all-girls to co-educational, those that focus mainly on academics to others which have an emphasis on character development, schools which adhere to the traditional British curriculum to others which follow a more internationally based approach.
The full list of schools taking part in the delegation includes ACS Cobham, Bromsgrove School, Cardiff Sixth Form College, Culford School, David Game College, Earlscliffe College, Harrogate Ladies College, Holmewood House, Lancing College, LVS Ascot, Mount Kelly, TASIS England and Westonbirt School.
GNA