The Member of Parliament (MP) for Agona East, Mrs Queenstar Maame Pokuah Sawyerr, has offered GH¢35,000 financial assistance to 35 tertiary students in their quest to pursue higher education.

The MP, through her Maame Pokuah Fees Programme (MPFP), presented GH¢1,000 each to the beneficiary students to cushion them in footing their academic user-fees and other educational expenditure.

Mrs Sawyerr, on her election as MP for the area in 2012, instituted the MPFP programme to support the education of particularly young girls in the district at the Senior High School (SHS) level.

However, with the introduction of the Free SHS programme in 2017, she shifted her focus to assist students at the tertiary level towards the training of the needed human capital to drive the progress of the district.

Reduce burden

Speaking to the Daily Graphic after a short presentation, Mrs Sawyerr noted that the gesture was to ease the burden on the parents of the beneficiary students.

“My vision as MP for the constituency in the area of education is to provide the needed support to students to be able to acquire tertiary education so as to prepare them to take up future job opportunities,” she said.

Acquire skills

Mrs Sawyerr challenged the beneficiary students to strive to acquire other employable skills in addition to what they were currently pursuing in their respective educational institutions to enable them to set up their own businesses.

She stated that there were too many graduates chasing non-existent white-collar jobs, adding that it would be in their own interest to acquire critical skills as well so that they could be gainfully employed.

She advised them against belittling vocational skills training despite their academic pursuit because acquiring such skills placed them above others since they could easily set up personal businesses in the absence of formal job opportunities.

“The government is over-stretched in providing job opportunities to the youth and it is important that the youth acquire employable skills to establish their own firms,” Mrs Sawyerr indicated.

In an interview with the beneficiary students, they thanked the MP for the assistance in the wake of the pandemic as it was a huge relief to their parents in footing their academic user fees.