STRENGTHENING AND PROMOTING GIRL CHILD EDUCATION IN GHANA

Females constitute more than fifty one percent of the entire Ghanaian population and therefore education should be a necessary prerequisite for them to be able to significantly contribute to the development aspirations of Ghana. It is believed that when this section of the population is properly educated they will make immerse contribution in terms of our health, social and economic development than we have today. 

This is how the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon puts it when he read his speech at the first ever international day for the girl child, “Investing in girls is a catalyst for changing the world…We must all do our part to let girls be girls, and not brides.”

Of the 759 million adults lacking literacy skills, two-thirds are women- a share that has actually increased slightly over the last decade.

In addition, females constitute about fifty-four percent of the sixty-nine million children who do not go to primary school across the world (GNECC feature article, Daily Graphic, January 1, 2013).

According to the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition report, girls enrolment continue to decline progressively from the basic to the tertiary level of our education despite several international and local interventions such as the Education For All and the Millennium Development goals. For instance the goal three of the MDG seeks to promote gender equality and promote women empowerment. This important goal can only become a reality when women are given quality education to the highest level of the educational ladder.

Many young girls especially those in our rural communities even though have the desire to complete school become drop outs due to several circumstances and mess their lives up. In the rural areas girls are still not able to match up with their male counterpart due to heavy house chores which make their participation in class low and reflecting in their academic performance. According to a report from themyjoyonline website on 23^rd April, 2013 a local NGO in Malawi which works to advance the rights, status and well-being of adolescent girls is seeking to economically empower young girls and keep them in school by making and using sanitary pads. That’s because many girls stay home rather than go to class when they have their menstrual cycles.

This means that even those issues that may be considered to be petty can prevent girls from attaining their educational goal.

There is therefore the need for us as a country to step up strategies to sustain young girls in school as their male counterpart does.

According to Mr. Ban Ki Moon “Girls face discrimination, violence and abuse every day and empowering them is a moral imperative, a matter of basic human justice and equality critical for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. It also advances economic growth and helps build peaceful societies” (Jamaica Observer, October, 2012).

WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD?

At a forum organized by GNECC in May 2011 to celebrate women’s education, all the participants including males called for the creation of a girl friendly education system and support for women literacy. To them that is the surest way of achieving the goal three of the MDG.
One of the major issues which continue to stand on the way of young girls is teenage pregnancy. There are even reports about girls who become pregnant in primary school. The failure of some schools and headmasters to grant them the right to continue their education is a major concern for all those who have girl child education at heart. If a girl gets pregnant she should be encouraged to stay in school and supported to return to school as soon as possible after delivery. Unfortunately many teenage mothers in our dear country do not return to school after delivery due to stigma. It is only few of them that actually make it back to school as mothers.

Government must strengthen its institutions such as Social Welfare to properly deal with violence and abuse against girls in school.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) should build the capacity of their staff in charge of the girl child education unit in all districts to successfully implement policies and programmes aim promoting girl child education.

The Youth Manifesto which came into existence in 2012 as a result of consultations across the country by the youth through the voices of youth project has outlined actions which must be adopted to ensure that girls and young women fully participate in the development of the Ghanaian society. It was lead by Youth Empowerment Synergy (YES-GHANA) through the youth manifesto coalition.

I will at this point share five of the interventions from page 14and 15 from the Manifesto which when implemented would change the face of girl child education in Ghana.

*  Ensuring that girls and young women are able to participate actively, equally, and effectively with boys and young men at all levels of social, educational, economic, political, cultural, civic life and leaderships as well as scientific endeavors.

*  Taking appropriate actions to eliminate discrimination against girls and young women and to ensure their full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms through comprehensive policies, plans of action and programmes on the basis of equality.

*  Paying more attention to gender mainstreaming in such key areas as education, health and employment.

*  Ensuring that the educational system does not impede girls and young women including married and/or pregnant young women from attending school. There should be support for girl child education by providing them with uniforms, learning materials, among others to stay in school. Parents should be sensitized about the importance of education for girls and young women.

*  Guaranteeing equal access to and completion of vocational, secondary and higher education in order to effectively address the existing imbalance between young men and women in certain professions. In particular, educational materials and practices must be gender balanced/sensitive and encourage girls and young women to undertake studies in the sciences.

Finally, the guidance and counseling unit of the Ghana Education Service must be equipped with professionals to monitor and assist school girls to properly adjust to the school environment. Copies of the Youth Manifesto can be obtained

Forced and Early Marriages among young women in Ghana…. A disturbing phenomenon

The “voices of youth manifesto” is calling for the government to design and implement strategies to prohibit forced and early marriages among young women in the country. Taking appropriate actions to eliminate this worse form of discrimination and violence against girls and young women affects their full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Early or Child marriage, according to the Convention on the Right of the Child, refers to any marriage of a person younger than 18 years. Even though child or early marriage affects both boys and girls, girls are mostly. Their overall development is compromised, leaving them socially isolated with little or no education, skills and opportunities for employment and realization of their implicit potentials. This leaves them more vulnerable to poverty. The practice also deprives them of basic rights to health, development and equality.

A forced marriage is a marriage that is performed under duress and without the full and informed consent or free will of both parties. Here also, young women are the most victims. Being under duress includes feeling both physical and emotional pressure. Some victims of forced marriage are tricked into relocating. Young women fall victim to forced marriage through deception, abduction, coercion, fear, and inducements. A forced marriage may be between young people themselves, a young persons and an adult, or between adults.

Traditional and religion believes as well as and poverty continue to fuel the practice of early and child marriage, despite its strong association with adverse reproductive health outcomes and the lack of education of girls. Customary practices in certain parts of the country lead to both early betrothal and marriage of girls. Where it can be proved that the girl’s consent to an early customary marriage was absent, a prosecution for forcible marriage can be carried out. But, of course, many females do not know that they have the right to refuse early marriages. Many feel compelled to cohabit with a man by circumstances such as poverty.

Ghana is a signatory to several International Conventions such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention on Eliminating Discrimination against Women. It therefore befits on the country to tighten her laws and strengthen her systems to deal with this social menace that has the ability to affect all spheres of the economy. Promoting girl child education will go a long way in helping the nation to attain Goal 3 of the Millennium Development Goals.

Early and forced marriages can contribute to putting people, specifically girls, into a cycle of poverty and powerlessness. Most are likely to experience violence, abuse and forced sexual relations. This means women who marry younger in age are more likely to be dominated by their husband. They also experience poor sexual and reproductive health. Young married women are more likely to contract HIV and their health could be in jeopardy. Most people that are forced into a marriage lack education and become illiterate. Young ones tend to drop out of school shortly before they get married.

Chapter 5, subsection 28 (d) of the constitution of Ghana recognizes that parliament enact such laws as are necessary to ensure that children and young person’s receive special protection against exposure to physical and moral hazards. Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says “every grown-up has the right to marry and have a family if they want to. Men and women have the same rights when they are married, and when they are separated”. This implies that marriage must be at the full consent of both parties.

Normally, girls from the Northern regions of Ghana are usually given out in marriage at very young ages against their will. This is a clear violation of the constitution of Ghana and the universal declaration of human rights. The girls are forced to marry men old enough to be their fathers and in some situations, their grandfathers. However, many of the girls escape from these marriages to settle in slums in Accra and Kumasi where they become courier girls popularly called “KAYAYEI”. Many of these girls drop out of school and have no skill to make a living. Most of these girls also find themselves been sexually abused by some men. This increases their risk of been infected with acquiring HIV. Some of them get pregnant without fathers.

The result is that many children are brought onto our streets. Many of these street children grow up without education and sense of responsibility. They lack basic necessities of life and find it difficult to feed or clothe themselves. The worse situation is that they will resort to the ‘gun’ as a means of livelihood.

In addition, in some parts of the Volta region, young virgins are forced to marry traditional priests. It is the punishment they are to serve for the crime or misfortune of their family members. This is popularly called “TROKOSI” in the Ewe language. These virgins are kept behind closed gates in the compound of the priest. They are never allowed go to out. They never go to school or learn a trade. With time, most of them give birth to children who are also kept away from the society. In this situation, they are denied most basic necessities of life such as education, clothing, good shelter, health and proper food.

Poverty in Ghana is generally described as low levels of income, the lack of shelter, food, clothing, education, and other important needs of life. Poverty should also be seen as is a consequence of human rights violations. Public education need to be geared towards young people and families about the health hazards of early marriage to the girls and encouraging parents/guardians to allow girls to go to school and spend more years in school before marrying and starting families. It is not enough for one to know the law, people must demand for their rights. The state must also establish good protection system for young people to ensure that the fundamental rights and dignity of the Ghanaian youth, especially the girl child is protected, promoted and fulfilled. These, I believe are ways of preventing abuse of their fundamental rights and increasing levels of poverty.

HAVE GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN COMMIT TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA

While we continue to commend the achievements of government, policy makers and non-governmental organizations work on women empowerment issues in Ghana over the years, the challenge is that too many girls and young women are still denied access to our fundamental human rights and privileges.

Most girls and young people in Ghana are deprived of access to healthcare, education, not to talk of participation and influencing decision making at all levels. This is different with boys and young men. Due to this, much of girls and young women are vulnerable to extreme poverty, infectious disease and a host of other challenges. However girls and young women are often better economic agents of capital than boys and young men. We are more likely to reinvest profits back into human capital than boys and young men.  In Ghana, Girls and young women make up majority of the youth population. Ghana is a youthful population. It is no doubt that, girls and young women are the main drivers of Ghana’s economic growth. To unlock this potential, government and all other stakeholders will need to work effectively through the promotion of economic empowerment of girls and young women. Decisive action must be taken to enable girls and young women gain access to information, technology, land, credit, businesses and our basic human rights and privileges. Affirmative policy actions must be taken to increase the participation of girls and young women in all sectors of the economy, especially in leadership and government positions. These measures will boost economic growth and public reform agendas. It will help women to acquire skills that will ensure our economic efficiency and effectiveness. In recognition of the crucial importance of this agenda, it is relevant for government, policymakers, non-governmental organization and other relevant stakeholders to empower girls and young women and promote our full participation in the development of Ghanaian society. Implementation of this schema and the participation of girls and young women in sustainable development could ease the gender parity, environmental unsustainable, violence and corruption issues affecting us.

Government, policy makers and non-governmental organizations over the years have been committed to the unraveling of the innovative potentials of girls and young women. But it is glaring that, more need to be done to support and empower us to take up our critical role as economic drivers of change. In recognition of this, Ghanaian youth came out with a Youth Manifesto in 2012 and acknowledged our commitment to the support of the full participation of girls and young women in the development of the Ghanaian society. The Youth Manifesto is the all-inclusive collation of youth policy options and proposals. It is the current voices of young people to place our issues and concerns to support Ghana economic agenda. Based on all the inputs received throughout all the ten regions of Ghana and from some Ghanaian in the diaspora, young people came with significant proposals for action, which aimed at improving the economic and social emancipation of girls and young women. In other to initiate the full participation of girls and young women in the development agenda of Ghana, the following was proposed by Ghanaian youth in the Youth Manifesto 2012:

Taking appropriate actions to eliminate discrimination against girls and young women  and to ensure their full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms through comprehensive policies, plan of action and programmes on the basis of equality. Develop and strengthen policies and programmes, which recognize the non-discrimination and full, equal and violent free enjoyment of all fundamental human rights and freedom for young women and girls. This include, ensuring that girls gain access primary, secondary and tertiary education like boy and young men. This will enable us see our self-worth, our right to have access to determine choices and feel like respected members of our society. Through the realization of this effort, a conducive environment will be built, where young women and girls will feel free to create opportunities for themselves. The views of girls and young women must be explored, so as to design appropriate programmes for this action.

Ensuring that girls and young women are able to participate actively, equally and effectively with boys and young men at all levels of social, educational, economic, political, cultural, civic life and leaderships as well as scientific endeavours. Girls and young women just like boys and young men are entitled to the effective enjoyment and participation in the development agenda at all levels of economic growth. We must be allowed to exercise this role through the expression of our ideas and opinion without fear or panic and also to publicize them as well. Government must ensure that girls and young women are allowed to participate in decision making and in fulfillment of our civic responsibilities.

Instituting programmes that make girls and young women aware of their rights and of opportunities to participate as equal members of society and to ensure full participation of girls and young women in society and decision making. This increases our understanding and appreciation of our role in the development process. Awareness and policy attention programmes to increase girls and young women knowledge of our rights and freedom is an effective reform to maximizing our role in the society.it will help protect us from violence, fickle decision making and unnecessary mandatory joint titling.

Paying more attention to gender mainstreaming in such key area as education, health and employment. Gender mainstreaming seeks to consider supportive and undesirable forces in the social, cultural and political environment of ours. It is therefore critical and an urgent need to introduce and implement programmes aimed at mainstreaming gender in our educational, health and employment systems.

Finally, initiating empowerment, leadership and mentoring programmes to support girls and young women. This mentoring program will establish positive self-esteem for girls and young women. Girls and Young women will become inspired by the strength and purpose of people who mentor us.

Ghanaian must recognize the benefits of empowering girls and young women to enable more effective economic decision making and ensure our country’s socio-economic stability.

CAREER AWARENESS: A SURE WAY TO A HAPPY WORKING LIFE

The Holy Bible says in 2nd Thessalonians 3:10 that if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. Therefore every individual is supposed to work for survival.

Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person’s “course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)”. It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work (and sometimes also formal education).

A career is the sequence and variety of occupations (paid and unpaid) which one undertakes throughout a lifetime. More broadly, ‘career ‘ includes life roles, leisure activities, learning and work. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/career.(retrived 3rd February, 2012).

Super (1980), opines that “career is the sequence of occupations jobs and positions held during the course of life”.

From the above definitions, career can be said to be the sum total of paid and unpaid work, learning and life roles you undertake throughout your life.

THE NEED FOR CAREER GUIDANCE

Career is the totality of an individual’s learning and experiences that builds him up for the world of work. It is therefore important that students and young people are exposed to this concept so that they are able to build on it.

Ginzberg et al (1972), asserts “the adolescence period in the life of an individual has been identified as a period of career exploration, decision making and tentative choice”. Therefore this is the stage the individual needs career guidance and counseling most. Most often when students, are asked about their future profession they mention them with ease. “I want to be a teacher, doctor, nurse, police, and accountant and so on”. However, many are unable to follow through to achieve their desired careers for lack of the needed information, education, financial problem, ill-health and many others. The need for career choice is of great importance in the following ways:

•   It helps the individual to satisfy a set goal.
•   helps people in earning a living
•   It gives prestige
•   Helps the society to develop.
•   Helps in the  payment of taxes to government

FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A CAREER

Choosing a career is one of the most important decisions one will ever make. While in the past most people’s career prospects were limited by economic or social factors, today one can choose almost any career path. While looking at job growth and salary data is important, superficial factors such as prestige and income do not provide for career satisfaction in the long-term.  The most important factors in choosing a career have to do with who you are as an individual.  Carefully consider the following factors when deciding on a career path:

•   self-assessment
•   career exploration
•   Knowledge of the job market
•   decision making
•   plan implementation

SELF- ASSESSMENT

An appraisal of yourself is the first step towards discovering the specialty that suits you. These tools will help you understand your interests, skills and influences and how these can be useful when considering your future career. The following are the steps in assisting to assess your personality:

a.Value

Value is something that is highly regarded and held to deserve importance or worth. In knowing value one may ask; what is important to me? Think in broad terms at first. What do you value in your personal life? Is it money, prestige, big houses, big cars, expensive cloth or be accredited with a discovery? 

b. Interests

Interest is a quality of something exciting, curious or holding ones attention. In determining interest one can ask; what are the things am I passionate about in life? What do you enjoy doing most? Is it something that holds your attention? If you could have any job you wanted what would that be? What would that look like? What areas are you curious in exploring? What subjects do you enjoy most, is it Mathematics, English, Science or others. Again, are you the type that enjoy cooking, then you can build a career along that line. Are you the one exploring with machines?  Do you take delight in sports and games then you can build a career in that line.

c. Skills

Skills are the ability to do something well. Individual should however note these important factors about skills. First, people may not realize they have certain skills unless they get an opportunity to develop them. Second, if you have relatively low skills in a given area you can still develop the skills and abilities needed to perform successfully in that area. For instance people with low mechanical skills can learn to skillfully perform mechanical task. However they may have more difficulty in learning mechanical skill and concepts than they would if they have more skills. For instance one may be good in drawing therefore his/her skills are in drawing. In assessing yourself in terms of skills, you may consider the following; what are you good at? Where are your expertise, abilities, and talents? What tools are you interested in exploring? Example: computer, cooking utensils and laboratory equipment. Also, think about skills you may have gained through: past jobs, group work, hobbies, school, social activities, etc.

d. Lifestyle

The lifestyle is the way in which one lives. Individual’s lifestyle may be determined by asking; what kind of lifestyle do you want to have? Where do I want to live? How do I want to live? What kind of house and car would you like to own? What size of family do you envision having? How will you support this kind of lifestyle?

e. Realities

Realities are the state of things as they actually exist. Upon knowing your values, interest, skills, and lifestyles the next important consideration is realities. For instance if it is the force work that you want the realities are that are you tall and physically fit for the work?

CAREER EXPLORATION

Career exploration is the process of examining, inquiring into and discussing in details an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life usually with opportunities for progress. Career exploration is about knowing where to look and what to look for. After obtaining information about yourself, you can begin exploring major options and potential career options.

a. The use of career path guide

Career path guide is your personalized guide to exploring many of the most popular career options and discovering the pathways that lead to those options. Whether you are currently a Senior High School, College or University Student and an adult learner considering a new path, you will have an opportunity to learn about:

• Career descriptions, advancement opportunities, and related job titles
• courses to take while in high school
• how participating colleges can lead to your career selection
• income potential
• successful individuals working in your chosen career

• What is the typical career path for your occupation?

b. Use people as a resource.

Another important way of acquiring career information is to obtain and review information from experts. Such experts include career counselors, professors, co-workers, friends, neighbors, relatives, and even employers. They may be able to tell you about different job opportunities, skills needed to perform the job, or simply provide additional resources.

c. Online resources

More so, in exploring career there is the need to use various online services in other words the mass media. These include community, national and international radio and television as well as internet, newspapers, magazines, comic books, cinema, company brochures, public libraries or other situations where a large number of people can be reached with information without personal contact.

d. Job Shadow, Volunteer and Informational Interviews

Job shadowing is a career exploration activity that offers an opportunity to spend time with a professional currently working in a person’s career field of interest. Job shadowing offers a chance to see what it’s actually like working in a specific job. Not only do job shadowers get to observe the day-to-day activities of someone in the current workforce, they also get a chance to have their questions answered. A couple of ways to get important information and get familiar with a particular type of major/work that you are considering is to do some shadowing to get a firsthand experience.

Volunteer work : To volunteer means simply, to be motivated and give one’s time or energies to work towards a project or cause that you are interested in. Voluntary work falls mainly in three broad categories: (a) long term, paid positions; (b) short, medium and long term, unpaid positions; and (c) short term expeditionary conservation projects where volunteers are self-funding, which are described in further detail below. In the particular area and or position you are interested in will allow you to not only network but to get an in depth look at the job of choice.

Informational Interviews: Informational Interviews are extremely helpful in a number of things. Practicing your skills, creating a career network, discovering employment opportunities, and gaining insight as to what individuals who are currently in the field of interest like, dislike, recommend, say related to the corporate culture, and describe nature of job to be.

e. Knowledge of the job market

This explains the availability of careers, the requisite qualification and skills needed for a regular employment. It further explains the skills that are in high demand by employers. For instance, as Ghana has found oil the demand for personnel with knowledge in oil exploration are in high demand. Information and Communication Technology (I.C.T) aspects are also in high demand since the world is gradually turning into a global village. With this individuals must consider the available job opportunity on the market before determining the career path to embark upon.

DECISION MAKING

Decision making is a conclusion or resolution reached after consideration of producing something. Once you have developed a good understanding of yourself and your career options, you are in a great place to start making decisions. The following will assist in making career decision:

a. Analyze your goal.

Goal is the aim, desired result or the destination of a journey. In analyzing the goal you have to consider what will come out of your decision, knowing this can help you better define your goals in life.

b.  Analyze & Identify roadblocks and obstacles

In making career decision it is prudent to analyze and identify roadblocks and obstacles that may be keeping you from obtaining your goal. Such obstacles may include health, finance, and educational qualification among others.

i. Generate possible solutions.

Brainstorm and be creative as you look at your options and the possibilities of your options.

ii. Explore each solution. Create a “what if” plan for each solution you are considering. Consider all the potential consequences both positive and negative of each solution.

iii. Implement one of your solutions. The solutions are implemented in a hieratical manner to determine the one which best suits you.

iv. Evaluation. Take time to reflect on your action steps and evaluate both successes and failures.

PLAN IMPLEMENTATION

Upon self-assessment, exploring the career, determining the job market, a decision is made for which a plan is implemented. Therefore plan implementation is a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something in performing an obligation or a task.

Career maintenance is the process of supporting, keeping and sustaining a career. These processes include how regular and punctual you are to your job, your commitment exhibiting a high sense of hard working, being obedience to rules and regulations of the job or career, ability to meet deadlines and many more.

Academic Scholarships for Master Students at Hamburg University in Germany, 2015-2016

Hamburg University of Applied Sciences has invited applications for academic scholarships available for international masters students. Applicants must have completed their school education outside of Germany or have graduated from a Studienkolleg. The value of scholarship is 400 Euro / month (5 months per semester). The scholarship is for one semester; an extension for a further two semesters is possible. The application deadlines are 30 October (for the winter semester) and 30 April (for the summer semester).
Study Subject(s): Scholarship is available in all subjects available at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (except Design degree programmes as well as Public Health, Public Management, Sozial- und Gesundheitsmanagement and Erneuerbare Energien).
Course Level: Scholarship is awarded for pursuing masters degree programme.
Scholarship Provider: Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Scholarship can be taken at: Germany

Eligibility:
-non-engineering students: completion of a Bachelor’s degree or Diploma in the “Regelstudienzeit” with a grade of at least 2.0 (or equivalent to German system, if the degree is from outside Germany)
-engineering students: completion of a Bachelor’s degree or Diploma in the “Regelstudienzeit” with a grade of at least 2.2 (or equivalent to German system, if the degree is from outside Germany) or
-all grades for the first semester in a Master’s programme at the HAW Hamburg better than at least 2.5, also for extensions.
-Ideally students should also have completed an internship and have been involved in a social project or worked as a volunteer.
Scholarship Open for International Students: International students are eligible for these academic scholarships.
Scholarship Description: Hamburg University of Applied Sciences awards scholarships to academically strong foreign students studying in Master degree programmes. Applicants must have completed their school education outside of Germany or have graduated from a Studienkolleg. They must also have completed their Bachelor’s degree or Diploma at a German university and be enrolled in a Master’s programme at the HAW Hamburg.
Number of award(s): Not Known
Duration of award(s): The scholarship is for one semester; an extension for a further two semesters is possible.
What does it cover? The value of scholarship is 400 Euro / month (5 months per semester).
Selection Criteria: Selection will be based on academic excellence.
Notification: Not Known
How to Apply: The application forms are available from the International Office of Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and will be submitted by post. The scholarships are awarded by a commission of Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.
Further Official Scholarship Information and Application

Application form
Scholarship Application Deadline: The application deadlines are 30 October this year (for the winter semester) and 30 April next year (for the summer semester).

How To Apply And Get A Scholarship To Study in Ghana

Applying for a scholarship and winning in Ghana, especially during the current state of the country has become very competitive, especially during tertiary academic level.

However, some tips and measures can be laid in place to increase one’s chances of winning a scholarship.

Apply early:

Due to the huge mass of people who apply for scholarships in Ghana, it is best to apply early as this would increase your chances of being selected for the scholarship. By applying early, you would be able to spend more time preparing for interviews and school.

Read about the scholarship:

Just like any normal interview, every applicant would be required to undergo an interview for the selection process. It is during this time that the interviewers would ask you questions related to the scholarship. Examples of such questions can be: Who is offering this scholarship? Why is the scholarship being offered? The duration of the scholarship? You would therefore be in a better position if you have a better fore-knowledge of the scholarship being offered. You can do some background research about the institution offering the scholarship on the internet or by visiting the institution, since most interviewers ask.

Do an extensive research on the selection criteria for the scholarship:

Many students in Ghana apply for scholarships making highly competitive to win. As such, you wouldn’t want to be in a disadvantaged position if you don’t meet the selection criteria. It however saves you the time you would have wasted trying to get it but the good news is that you would have an earlier opportunity for improve your stand before applying. Knowledge of the selection criteria would therefore enable you to make certain vital changes before applying for the scholarship.

For those in High School:

For those in High School seeking a scholarship to study in either Ghana or oversees, do well to get your entire academic transcript for all your active terms in the school if you intend to apply for the scholarship whilst in school. You would also need at least a couple of recommendation letters, one from the head of your school and the other from any member of the teaching staff of your school. However, if you can get more recommendation letters, do well to get them because more recommendations would increase your chances of winning the scholarship.

For merit based scholarships:

For merit based scholarships which places more emphasis on your academic strength or athletic abilities or artistic qualities, provide copies of all obtained certificates as proof of your abilities.