By Erica Apeatua Addo, GNA
Tarkwa (W/R), Mar 02, GNA – Mr Samuel Boakye Pobee, the Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine, has advised first year students of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa to embrace challenges with courage and resilience.
He said failure and setbacks were inevitable, but they should be viewed as learning experiences that contributed to personal and academic development.
Mr Pobee stated this in Tarkwa when Iduapriem Mine, UMaT and Ladies in Mining and Allied Professions, Ghana (LiMAP-Gh) organised the third edition of this year’s- “Start Right, End Well” Mentorship Programme for first year students.
It was under the theme ”Optimising the Undergraduate Experience.”
The Managing Director said: “We all know that the undergraduate experience is a crucial time in a student’s life, as it sets the stage for their personal and professional growth. As first-year university students, you are embarking on a journey that is both exciting and challenging.
“Your undergraduate years are a time of immense growth and discovery. It is also a time when you will not only acquire knowledge but also develop crucial skills, build lifelong relationships, and lay the foundation for your future success.
He added: “I encourage you to empower yourself to take ownership of your education and personal development. Set goals for yourself, both academic and personal, and work diligently to achieve them.”
He recalled that over the past three years, they have been working collaboratively with the UMaT and LiMAP-Gh, to organise two mentorship programmes every year- “Start Right, End Well” for first year’s students, and “Exit in Readiness” for final year students.
The feedback has been commendable from both participants and stakeholders, so we are happy to sponsor this year’s Start Right and, End Well Mentorship programmes.
Over the years, Mr Pobee said the Mine had consistently shown its continuous support for improved educational standards through the provision of infrastructure, and other teaching and learning materials to enhance the quality of teaching and learning not only in their host communities but the municipality.
“In pursuit of this objective, in 2023, we invested over 4 million Ghana cedis in the provision of appropriate educational infrastructure, teaching and learning materials to our host community basic schools. This year, our plan is to invest 7.6 million Ghana cedis on various education and youth development initiatives and projects in the communities.”
“Through our community scholarship programme, last year we awarded and paid full scholarship of 146 youth across our host communities pursuing various Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related courses in tertiary institutions, with 53 per cent of them studying various courses related to mining” he further said.
The managing director announced that “following this intervention, we are now able to attract skilled labour from our host communities which hitherto was difficult to find. We strongly believe in empowering our youth to foster sustainable development within our host communities.
He said it was in furtherance of this objective that they wholeheartedly agreed to jointly organize the third edition of this mentorship programme to provide students with guidance, support and resources they needed to thrive during their time in university.
The Vice Chancellor of the UMaT, Professor Richard Kwasi Amankwah, thanked Iduapriem Mine for supporting them in this venture, adding “Indeed, they are the key stakeholders as far as this programme is concern, they are also funding so many programmes on campus and we are grateful.
In UMaT we try to engage our students and make sure that they pick appropriate skills while on campus so that by the time you graduate you can affect the world positively as you move along.”
Miss Peace Sitsofe Kploayi, Counselor at the Counselling and Student Support Unit, UMaT, for her part said: “Tertiary level education must be holistic and for it to be, so you have to take advantage of opportunities that are made for you to have that.
“The decisions that you make will either make or unmake you, so make them well. And when you start well for which we are here, all other things being equal, you will end well.”
GNA