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Ghana marks its 56th Independence anniversary today with colourful parades across the country.
President John Dramani Mahama will address a national parade of schoolchildren and contingents of security personnel at the Independence Square in Accra to mark the occasion.
Similar parades will be held in all the regional and district capitals, during which representatives of the President will take the national salute and read the Head of State’s speech.
Holiday makers will patronise the various entertainment centres, night-clubs and beaches in their respective areas to commemorate the occasion.
As part of the activities marking the event, 20 pupils, who excelled in the 2012 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), were Tuesday presented with the President's Independence Awards, reports Musah Yahaya Jafaru
Besides their academic performance, the pupils, comprising a boy and a girl from each of the 10 regions, were also selected for their distinguished participation in co-curricular activities and exhibition of good moral behaviour.
President John Dramani Mahama presented medals, plagues, certificates and laptops to the awardees at the Banquet Hall of the State in Accra.
Additionally, the awardees, who are currently pursuing different courses in various senior high schools (SHSs) in the country, were offered scholarships.
The scholarships cover the boarding and lodging fees of boarding students while day students will receive their scholarships in cash.
Since the introduction of the President's Independence Awards in 1993, more than 300 pupils have benefited from the scheme. Some of the award winners are now doctors, engineers, lawyers and bankers.
In his address, President Mahama said children were the country's present and future since they would be at helm of affairs in the near future.
Therefore, he said, the government would continue to support the education of children and create opportunities for them to develop their talents.
For instance, the President said, the government would continue with the distribution of free laptops, exercise books and uniforms and increase the number of beneficiaries of the Ghana School Feeding Programme.
Besides, the President said, 200 community SHSs would be constructed to improve access to secondary education.
He said the Maths and Science scholarship would be increased from 5,000 to 10,000 this year.
President Mahama, therefore, urged the youth to be serious with their studies and exhibit a sense of discipline and responsibility in all their dealings.
That, he said, was crucial because they would be the doctors to perform the best of operations in the country and the engineers to
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lead the nation's infrastructure development, among other contributions.
President Mahama congratulated the awardees for their enviable performance, and asked them to continue to build their capacity.
The Minister of Education, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, reiterated the government's commitment to increasing the number of beneficiaries of the school feeding programme, free laptops and exercise books.
She called on all teachers, officials of the Ghana Education Service (GES), teachers and students to exhibit a high sense of commitment in their respective roles for the promotion of teaching and learning.
Mohaideen Mohammed-Ameen from the Dan-Ibu International School in the Upper West Region, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues award winners, thanked the President for the honour done them.
He affirmed his commitment and that of his colleagues to continue to demonstrate a high level of seriousness in their studies and discipline in all their activities.
The awardees were later hosted to a luncheon at the Aviation Social Centre in Accra as part of activities to celebrate their achievements, reports Kofi Yeboah
Over the past few days, the award winners had been accorded the best of treatments reserved for state celebrities as a reward for their academic excellence.
Apart from enjoying an audience with the Vice President, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, they had interacted with many state dignitaries and chauffeured to many parts of the country to visit places of interest.
Resolve to learn from the past mistakes and chart a new course for posterity
Meanwhile Caroline Boateng reports that as the nation celebrates the eve
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