Salaga, NR, – Ten needy but brilliant students from two Senior High Schools in the East Gonja District have benefited from a scholarship package worth US$1000, sponsored by the Gonjaland Youth Association in New York. The beneficiaries, made up of five students each from Salaga Senior High School and T.I. Ahmadiya Senior High School were presented with their awards at a ceremony in Salaga on Friday, 21st October 2011. The presentation is the first in a rotational scholarship scheme being instituted by the New York Branch of the Gonjaland Youth Association for the benefit of students in all the Gonjaland Districts in Northern Region.

Making the presentation on behalf of the President of the New York Branch of the Gonjaland Youth Association, Mr. Adam Solo, a retired Bank Manager, Mr. Mahama Abudu Solo, challenged the students of Gonjaland to work hard to become the new generation of Lawyers, Engineers, Doctors, Teachers and other professionals that Ghana and Gonjaland need for development. He said, the Gonjaland Youth in New York ask for nothing in return for their selfless investment save the commitment of the students to learn. Parents of the beneficiary students expressed gratitude to their benefactors for coming to the aid of their wards. They were full of excitement about the enormous financial relief that the award of the scholarship will bring to their respective families.

The chairman of the award ceremony, Mr. Kingsley Mahama, used the opportunity to appeal to the Gonjaland Youth Association in New York and elsewhere, to use their extensive contacts and influence to source for science laboratory equipment for the Science Resource Centre in Salaga Senior High School. He said advances in technology have happened at the speed of light in the past decade, and that a science laboratory equipped with twentieth century equipment is not nearly adequate to prepare students for the challenges of a knowledge economy. The beneficiary students each received the equivalent of US$100 to support their general educational needs. The awardees expressed appreciation to the President and members of the Gonjaland Youth Association in New York for the support.