By Prince Acquah, GNA
Cape Coast, Aug 25, GNA – The REC Advisory Group, an educational consultancy firm from Barbados, has donated 20 bicycles to selected Senior High School (SHS) day students in Cape Coast to facilitate their daily commuting to school.
The donation was made through a collaboration involving the Barbados High Commission in Ghana and the Cape Coast Youth Development Association (CCYDA).
Dr Kimberlee Henry, the Chief Executive Officer of the REC Advisory Group, said the gesture was not charity but an investment in the future of the beneficiaries.
She said distance should never be a barrier to education, stressing that the bicycles were intended to remove one of the challenges confronting students in accessing education.
“We exist to remove those barriers for students. Use the time that the bicycles return to you wisely and devote it to additional study,” she said.
Dr Henry recounted how education had transformed her life and provided a positive trajectory for her family, urging the beneficiaries to regard the bicycles as instruments of opportunity and use them responsibly.
She encouraged the students to give back to society in the future by mentoring and supporting other young people, noting that their support had been made possible by people who invested in young people they had never met.
“So, I encourage each of you to give back your time, to mentor someone, to support someone, and to invest in the next generation of students in your communities,” she said.
Dr Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland, the High Commissioner of Barbados in Accra, said education remained critical to the development of young people and national progress.
She said Barbados had recognised the importance of education through its provision of free education at all levels, adding that the country’s small size had not prevented it from achieving its development goals.
“Barbados is a country where education is key. We don’t care how small we are; size has not stopped us from achieving our goals,” she said.
Dr Bynoe-Sutherland said the High Commission collaborated with the CCYDA because the association was organised, credible and accessible.
Dr James Conduah Orleans-Lindsey, the Patron of the CCYDA, urged the beneficiaries to take good care of the bicycles to encourage further support for students in the future.
He challenged the youth of Cape Coast to take advantage of the numerous top-class secondary and tertiary institutions in the city to access quality education.
“Cape Coast has the best schools, but indigenes are not interested in leveraging this wonderful opportunity,” he said.
Dr Orleans-Lindsey, who is also Chancellor of the Cape Coast Technical University and a native of Cape Coast, questioned why more indigenes were not pursuing programmes such as medicine, law and engineering despite the educational opportunities available in the city.
Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, Oguaa Omanhen, commended the REC Advisory Group and its partners for the initiative and encouraged the youth to take their education seriously.
He said no nation could make meaningful progress without education, noting that transportation was an important component of the educational process.
“Travelling to school every day is a very exhausting and burdensome task for many people. Indeed, we are very grateful for this gesture,” he said.
Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II cautioned the beneficiaries to use the bicycles strictly for their intended purpose.
“If we see you riding the bike to places you are not supposed to be, it will be taken away from you and given to another person,” he stressed.
The beneficiaries were students from schools including Aggrey Memorial, Wesley Girls’ High School, Cape Coast Technical Institute and St Augustine’s College.
Ms Franchesca Baaba Nyanba Tenadu, a student of Wesley Girls’ High School and a beneficiary, expressed appreciation for the gesture, saying it would ease the challenges many day students faced commuting to school daily.
GNA
Edited by Alice Tettey/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Prince Acquah
Email address: [email protected]