The quiz competition is one of the many interventions by the Registrar of the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, Dr Kingsley Agyemang, to complement government efforts at raising standards of education in the Akyem Abuakwa South Constituency.

The winners beat Abuakwa State College in the final of this year’s event to maintain the position they secured in the maiden edition of the competition which included all the second-cycle schools in the area.

The Abuakwa State College argued against the motion “J. B. Danquah’s ideological contributions have played a defining role in shaping the socio-political and cultural landscape of Ghana”, while the Kibi Senior High Technical argued for the motion.

The debate also commemorated the final funeral rites of J. B. Danquah, who passed on 59 years ago and brought out the best of the students from the two schools in the area of research, presentation, oratory and analysis and the ability to think on their feet to counter claims made by their opponents.

They both supported their arguments with videos, pictures and other documentary evidence such as newspaper articles and books some dating back to the pre-independence era.

Abuakwa State College was represented by Abdul Karim, Abigail Asantewa Afriyie, Mohammed Dauda, while Herty Ocansey, Larence Nii Lamptey, Kathrina Ohenewa defended the trophy for the Kibi Snr High Technical in a debate.

In addition to claiming the trophy at stake, each of the three students who represented their schools in the took home a laptop, an undisclosed amount of cash, while their teachers and schools also benefited from some amount of cash.

Complementary intervention

Apart from the Kinsgley Quizzes, Dr Agyemang, who is the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Parliamentary candidate for December’s general election, has initiated other interventions to help improve the level of education in the area.

These include a Mentorship programme,  inter-SHS Football Gala Competition, a Maths and Science Quiz for JHS pupils and a Spelling Challenge and Readerthon for primary schools.

In his opening remarks, Dr Agyemang said the analytical and intellectual prowess exhibited by the students brought to the fore an aspect of education that should be taken seriously and improved on, especially the art of public speaking and arguing more civilly.

He advised the students to emulate the shining example of J.B. Danquah because the trust of leaders, colleagues and team members is earned when one upholds honesty, adding that “not only are we trustworthy but we also set an example for others to follow when we take responsibility for our actions”.

He added that ultimately, all these have a direct bearing on their ability to succeed in life because “despite everything that was thrown at Dr J. B. Danquah, he persevered because he knew what he stood for”.

He urged the students to disregard the repercussions, stick to their principles in the face of difficulties and strive to attain excellence through hard work and integrity.