Mrs Gizella Tetteh Agbotui, the Member of Parliament for Awutu-Senya-West, has advised newly admitted Senior High School (SHS) students to steer clear of drugs and concentrate on their education to secure a better future.
She gave the advice during the distribution of 200 school trunks and 200 mattresses to fresh SHS students at the district office of the Ghana Education Service. The donation aimed to ease the financial burden on vulnerable parents as they prepared their children for school.
Mrs Agbotui expressed concern about reports indicating that some students experiment with drugs after entering senior high school, often with devastating consequences. She stressed the importance of early guidance to prevent such occurrences.
“We’ve had complaints that some students are already into drugs, and the naive ones end up being influenced by peer pressure. No parent wants that for their child. We want them to count themselves fortunate for the opportunity, because not everyone gets the chance to enter senior high school,” she cautioned.
She reminded the students that their future depended on the choices they made today, urging them to study hard and stay focused. “We are encouraging you to study hard and recognise that your future is being prepared for you now. And so play your parts by studying well,” she added.
Mrs Agbotui explained that, unlike previous years when parents were given cash assistance, this year’s support focused on providing items that would directly benefit the students. She assured them of her continuous support, particularly for those who excel academically, noting that such students would have the opportunity to benefit from scholarship packages to pursue tertiary education.
Mr Nyamekye Kalala Eghan, the District Chief Executive for Awutu-Senya-West, commended the MP for the initiative and described it as part of a broader Back to School project. He said the project had already supported kindergarten, primary, and junior high school pupils, with SHS students now added, and plans were underway to extend scholarships to tertiary students.
“This project supports kindergarten, primary and JHS pupils, and now SHS has been added, with plans to also provide scholarships for tertiary students. It is a collaboration between the MP and the district assembly to assist poor but needy students,” he explained.
Mr Eghan urged the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously and make both the District Assembly and the MP proud.
