Mrs Gizella Tetteh Agbotui, the Member of Parliament for Awutu-Senya-West, has urged newly admitted Senior High School (SHS) students to avoid drug use and focus on their education.
She gave the advice when she distributed 200 school trunks and 200 mattresses to freshers at the district office of the Ghana Education Service, to ease the financial burden of vulnerable parents as they prepared their children for school.
Mrs Agbotui expressed concern about reports that some innocent students tried drugs with serious consequences upon entering senior high school, stressing the need for early guidance.
“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, and reminded the students that their future depended on the choices they made today.
“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 said parents had previously been supported with cash, but this year, she chose to provide items that would directly benefit students.
She urged them to remain disciplined, determined, and focused in their studies, reassuring them of her continuous support, particularly for those who would excel academically to have the opportunity to benefit from a scholarship package to enable them further their tertiary education with ease.
Mr Nyamekye Kalala Eghan, the District Chief Executive for Awutu-Senya-West, praised the initiative, and described it as part of a broader Back to School project.
“This project supports kindergarten, primary and JHS pupils, and now SHS had 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 Assembly and the MP proud.
GNA
