All 280 awardees aged between 14 and 24 years old successfully completed a number of prescribed activities under the Head of State Award-Ghana Scheme with 157 representing 59.4per cent being females whiles 114 representing 41.6 per cent were males.

• President Akufo-Addo (middle), Mrs Frema Osei Opare (second from right), Mr Archibald Letsa (right), and other guests with the award winners

The scheme is a youth devel­opment programme that seeks to challenge young people through a balanced- programme of voluntary activities.

As a non-competitive pro­gramme, the scheme also helps unearth the potential of young people in diverse disciplines and allows their achievements to be recognised internationally.

Participants for this year’s event who were presented with the gold awards were mainly drawn from the Senior High School level in­cluding Tema International School, Wesley Girls SHS, and Nkawie SHS, with each of them complet­ing various tasks for evaluation.

In his address, President Akufo-Addo who is also the chief patron of the scheme, congratu­lated the organisers of the scheme and called for it to be sustained.

“It is clear from what you have seen here that the award scheme is an excellent idea and we have to congratulate initiators of the idea and we have to make sure that it continues to work,” he added.

He also pledged his commitment to seeing through the completion of office secretariat for the scheme in Ghana, stressing that “It will be the first in the world so we have every reason for us to make sure it is completed and that is the building that is going to house the secretariat.”

President Akufo-Addo noted that when completed, it would be the first of its kind anywhere in the world since the award scheme did not have any secretariat anywhere in the world, adding that “When we finish this one in Ghana, it will be the first of its kind in the world. So you have my personal commit­ment, I am going to help finish this building.”

On his part, the Board Chair­man of HoSA, Mr Harry Sin­tim-Aboagye, explained that the award scheme was a “structured, non-formal education, youth devel­opment programme, empowering all individuals to explore their full potential and discover their true purpose, passion, and place in the world, irrespective of their location or circumstances.”

He said the award scheme en­couraged young people to engage in a variety of activities, foster­ing versatility and a positive life outlook.

Mr Sintim-Aboagye said the HoSA Award Programme was a positive challenge for both corpo­rate and young people.

HoSA is the Duke of Edin­burgh’s International Award in Ghana and a member of the International Award Foundation which is the world’s leading youth achievement award that brings together practical experiences to create committed global citizens through the provision of a bal­anced programme that challenges and equips young people with positive life skills.

It provides a leisure time activ­ities and a rewarding agenda that fills the gap left by formal tuition and equips young people with life skills, builds their confidence and engages them with their communi­ties to make a difference to them­selves and the world at large.