Return home to aid in nation-building, Sakyi-Addo advises scholarship beneficiaries.

It has been suggested that young people who have the opportunity to study abroad make it a point to come home and use their abilities, knowledge, and expertise to support national development. Sakyi-Addo

This is due to the fact that it was young people’s duty and responsibility as the nation’s offspring to return and teach those who had not benefited from their experiences.

The advice was given by Kwaku Addo Sakyi-Addo, Chairman of the Board of the National Communications Authority (NCA), who emphasized that human resources were crucial to national development and that it was incumbent upon everyone who had the opportunity to travel abroad to develop their capacity to return home and contribute their fair share to nation-building.

“When my scholarship was over, I had no doubts that I would come back, and years later, when the BBC approached me to work for them in London, I declined. Sakyi-Addo

This is where I belong in this world, he declared.

Chevening Scholarship

A well-known and seasoned journalist, Mr. Sakyi-Addo, spoke last Tuesday in Accra at the 40th-anniversary commemoration of the Chevening Scholarship, an international scholarship program run by the United Kingdom (UK) government.

The program, which was established in 1983, enables exceptional and committed young leaders from all over the world to pursue a one-year master’s degree in any subject at any UK university by providing complete financial support for things like flights, lodging, and tuition. Sakyi-Addo

The Chevening Scholarship program has been in existence in Ghana for 40 years because Ghana was one of the first nations to participate as an initial awardee.

The ceremony served as a farewell for 17 scholarship recipients who were part of the 2023–2024 cohort and were attending universities including Oxford, Leeds, and Glasgow to study human development, sustainability, global security, microbiology, and fashion. Sakyi-Addo

Special

Mr. Sakyi-Addo called the scholars “special” because they were chosen out of more than 5,000 applicants who desired the chance to live and study at top universities in the UK and improve their lives.

Harriet Thompson (arrowed), British High Commissioner, with the beneficiaries of the 2023 Chevening Scholarship and some officials

“You’re special because you don’t have to risk your lives, brace for the storms of the Mediterranean or the sand dunes of the desert.

“You don’t have to sleep in the streets and flee at the sight of the police and immigration officers when you go to Europe,” he stated.

Supporting education

According to Harriet Thompson, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, the goal of the Chevening Scholarship is to provide outstanding emerging leaders with the knowledge, contacts, and networks necessary to improve their own lives, the country, and the world at large.

She added that the partnership was visible at every level of Ghana’s educational system, from scholarships to curriculum development, skills training, and supporting high-quality teaching and learning in public schools and colleges. She stated that education remained a top priority for the UK’s work with the country.

She emphasized that more than 400 Ghanaians have received scholarships from us over the past 40 years, and many of them have gone on to hold important positions in Ghana’s civil society, academia, media, creative arts, sports, law, security, artificial intelligence, trade and business, and human development, among other fields.

International cooperation, according to the British High Commissioner, is more important than ever as the globe works to combat concerns like climate change, poverty, and access to high-quality, inclusive education. For this reason, the program continues to support alumni when they return to their home country.

Make the most of this opportunity, Ms. Thompson said, because “we believe in you; your vision for Ghana’s development, and your contribution to that, which is why you were chosen by Chevening.”

Maamle Andrews, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, claimed that the scholarships promoted not only academic success but also cross-cultural interaction and international cooperation.

“As a nation, we believe that investing in education will shore up our human capital index and position us to realize our national goals,” she continued. “We, at the ministry, are happy to see our students given the chance to further their education in various areas.”

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